Lasagna, At Last!
When my family was diagnosed with food allergies, it was a somewhat depressing event. However, hope was in the air as we felt we were on the road to better health. We do not have wheat or cow milk in our home. Fortunately, our doctor was able to pinpoint which part of the cow milk we could not tolerate. Surprisingly, it was not casein, a protein, or lactose, a sugar. We were allergic to the whey in the milk.
Knowing this we were able to continue enjoying butter, most cheeses, and occasionally cream cheese. We could no longer have ice cream, yogurt, velveeta, american cheese, ricotta cheese, or cottage cheese. I rejoiced at being able to eat butter and cheddar cheese. It sure made our lives easier as far as eating was concerned. I did not have to ask restaurants if they added butter to their vegetables, etc.
One dish we all loved, but thought we could no longer enjoy was lasagna. Tinkyada pasta makes lasagna noodles so the wheat was not the problem. We can eat parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, but what could I substitute for the ricotta or cottage cheese? I kept going back to the obvious answer: tofu.
However, my family was not thrilled with that ingredient so I had not tried. But this week I had had enough. I missed lasagna. I had to try. I bought a package of firm organic tofu. The great thing about tofu is that it is pretty much flavorless. It takes on any flavor you give it. So I decided to add minced garlic to my tofu.
Since I have started implementing freezer cooking, my children and I prepare many dishes at one time and freeze them for a later date. Jake wanted to make the lasagna; so he helped me. When all was said and done, we chose to eat the lasagna first. In fact, we ate it that night.
Words cannot describe how thrilled I was! You could not tell that tofu was in the dish. It tasted exactly like a regular lasagna. If you cannot tolerate the whey in cow milk, I highly recommend that you make this recipe. If you are completely dairy-free, use the veggie cheese shreds in the refrigerated aisle of a good supermarket.
Tofu Lasagna
To eat or not to eat tofu.
1-1/2 boxes (15 ounces) of brown rice lasagna noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 lb pan sausage
26 ounces spaghetti sauce
8 ounce can tomato sauce
14 ounces firm tofu
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
sea salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees unless you are going to freeze the lasagna.
Brown the meat and drain it. Add the sauces and simmer for 10 minutes. In a bowl, mix the tofu, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, the parmesan, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a 15 x 10″ dish, pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Put a layer of noodles and cover them with sauce. Then spread 1/2 of your cheese/tofu mixture and top with more noodles. Continue layering sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce. On top of the last of your sauce, spread out the remaining mozzarella cheese.
It is very important that your noodles are completely covered with sauce since they are uncooked.
Bake for 45 minutes covered. Then uncover for an additional 15 minutes. Let it stand 10 minutes before serving.
If you want to freeze it, do not bake the lasagna. Cover with freezer wrap and place in your freezer. To eat, allow it to thaw out completely and then bake as directed.
Whey seems to be an increasing problem for many! Not so bad for cheese-lovers though. Christina at Dinner at Christina’s has found some whey-free cottage cheese in stores though.
Thank you Alisa. I have never heard of whey-free cottage cheese.