Meatless Mushroom Lasagna

See this tiny sliver of Mushroom Lasagna? It should speak volumes as to why this is probably the best lasagna ever made. You see, this tiny sliver is all that is left of a very large pan I made on Monday. By the time I was ready to take a picture of this delicious dish in all it’s glory, “J” had eaten most of it. I didn’t even realize he had eaten so much until yesterday afternoon when I received a text from him that said “I effing love that lasagna!”

Yeah, it’s pretty darn good. And you know what? It’s meatless. So how did I get a meat lovin’ guy to “effing love” this meatless lasagna… mushrooms. They add that nice meaty texture and flavour… couple that with tomato sauce & cheese, and you have one heck of an umami lasagna.

This meatless lasagna packs a meaty punch thanks to the addition of fresh mushrooms. Finely chopped mushrooms can take on the same texture as meat and offer up a boost of flavour. Replacing all the meat in this lasagna recipe saves you about 15g of fat and over 300 calories!

Ingredients
1 lb crimini mushrooms, finely diced in the food processor
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 jar four cheese pasta sauce
1/2 container low-fat ricotta cheese
3 cups fresh spinach
1 package premade, fresh lasagna sheets
1 cup grated marble cheese
1/4 Parmesan cheese

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350C.
2. Dice mushrooms in food processor until finely diced, about the consistency of ground beef. Heat oil in pan on medium-high. Saute mushrooms and onions until most of their moisture has evaporated.
3. Add jar of pasta sauce and heat through.
4. Meanwhile, saute spinach in a large pan until wilted. Remove pan from heat and mix ricotta with spinach in warm pan.
5. Spray a large lasagna pan with non-stick spray. Layer in ingredients, starting with mushroom sauce mixture on bottom, followed by lasagna sheet, ricotta spinach mixture, mushrooms sauce, and sprinkles of cheese. Repeat until you reach the last sheet, then top with sauce, grated cheese and Parmesan.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Tip: If you like it spicy, add ½ tsp crushed red chili flakes to the sauce mixture.

What is your favourite meatless meal?

PS. If you search way back to last year’s Valentine’s Day, you’ll see I have made this lasagna for “J” before. He loved it then too… but of course at that time I didn’t tell him it was meatless!