The Best G-Damn Lasagna

I will forewarn that this is a time consuming recipe, but it is completely worth it! Wanting to pay proper credit and recognition to Bad Manners (formerly Thug Kitchen) for a lot of the inspiration and foundational pieces of this recipe, one of my favourite cookbooks hands down! I fell in love with their mixed mushroom and spinach lasagna the first time I tried it, but my husband needs more protein in his diet, so this became the Best G-Damn Lasagna.

I recommend doing some prep-work the day before with some of the filling components like the mushrooms and tofu ricotta if you want to be dairy free. There are so many ways that you can play with lasagna to make it your own. I will also link to the Dairy-Free Basil Pesto, as someone that loves pesto, finding a way to make it dairy-free has been a blessing.

Modifiers and substitutions will be at the bottom like always for anyone that needs to make adjustments. Possibilities include: Dairy-friendly, Dairy-free, vegetarian, low-carb, and honestly so many more. There are so many ways to substitute ingredients on this, check it out below if something doesn’t work for you.

The best G-Damn Lasagna

Be prepared for the steps and time needed to complete this beast of a lasagna, but trust me when I say it is worth it. A food processor is going to be your best friend in prep, from the pesto, tofu ricotta, and the mushroom filling; the food processor is going to cut down the prep time considerably.

There are a lot of notes, modifiers and substitutions on this one, be sure to check below if something doesn't work you!

Mushroom & Spinach Filling

• 454 grams Button, white, or Cremini Mushrooms (Or a mix – Finely sliced)
• 300 grams Spinach (Fresh or frozen, thawed and drained)
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 2 tbsp Pesto (See Modifiers)
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Tofu Ricotta

• 14 oz Extra Firm Tofu (Pressed *See instructions)
• ¼ cup Raw hulled Sunflower Seeds
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice (or a few drops Lemon Extract)
• ½ tsp Lemon Zest (If you have lemons on hand)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3-4 cloves Garlic (Or 2 tbsp Garlic Powder)
• ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast

Meat Sauce

• 2 lbs Ground Meat (Beef, Chicken, Turkey, etc)
• ½ Onion (Diced)
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 28 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
• 6 Sundried Tomatoes (Chopped)
• 1 cup Chicken Stock (or beef, mushroom, vegetable, etc. Match your protein)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tbsp Basil
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice (Or a few drops Lemon Extract)
• ½ tsp Lemon Zest (Optional)
• 1 tsp White Vinegar (Adjust to taste if sauce is bitter)
• 2 tbsp Pesto
• 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper (To taste)

Assembly

• 9-12 No Boil Noodles (Depending on pan shape)
• 2 cups Shredded Cheese

Mushroom & Spinach Filling

1. Remove any tough stems from the mushrooms, I usually leave the stems on. If you have a food processor, run the mushrooms through the slicer. Or, if cutting by hand slice them into coin width pieces.

2. In a large pan, heat the butter until melted and add the mushrooms. Sauté for a few minutes.

3. Add in the spinach and salt, sauté spinach and mushrooms together for 3-4 minutes until the fresh spinach is wilted or the frozen spinach is full mixed in and heated.

4. Remove from heat and mix in pesto. Taste and adjust as needed, as more salt or pepper, mix in more pesto, whatever works for you.

5. Scoop the mixture into a heat safe bowl and set aside. You can set it in the fridge once cool and prep this the day before.

Tofu Ricotta

1. If you haven't pressed tofu before, it's super easy. Remove the tofu from it's package and wrap it in a clean dish towel. Set a small plate or cutting board on top, just something flat. Then set something moderately heavy on top, a few cans, jar of peanut butter, knife block is my personal favourite. This will ease the water in the tofu out and allow it to soak in more flavour.

2. Dump the sunflower seeds into a food processor with a cutting blade and run into they are chopped into small pieces.

3. Break your pressed tofu into slightly smaller pieces and add to the food processor. Run again the tofu and sunflower seeds are blended together into a slightly smooth mixture.

4. Add in the olive oil, lemon juice and zest (or lemon extract), salt, garlic and nutritional yeast. Blend until completely incorporated.

5. Scoop the mixture into a bowl and set aside. You can set it in the fridge and prep this the day before.

Meat Sauce

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add chopped onion. Stir the onion into the oil so it is glossy and shiny.

2. Add in the ground meat, this batch I used ground turkey. Start breaking up the meat into the onion and let it sit to brown for a few minutes before stirring and breaking up again. Continue until the meat is almost completely cooked and brown.

3. Add in the crushed tomatoes, chicken stock and chopped sundried tomatoes. Let simmer for a few minutes.

4. Add in the seasonings, Worcestershire, basil, lemon, white vinegar, pesto, garlic, salt and pepper. Let simmer for at least 5 minutes.

5. Taste and adjust if needed. If there is a bitterness add a little more vinegar, more pesto, garlic, salt and pepper, all up to you. Sauce should be on the wet side, add more chicken stock if it seems dry.

Assembly

1. In a 9×13 pan start with a thin layer of the meat sauce (about 1/3) and top with a layer of uncooked no boil lasagna noodles.

2. Then spread the mushroom and spinach mixture evenly across the pan and top with a layer of noodles

3. Spread the ricotta evenly over the noodles and add dollops of meat sauce (about 1/3) on top. Top with a layer of noodles

4. Top with the remaining meat sauce (about 1/3)

5. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at [wprm-temperature value=”400″ unit=”F”]

6. Pull pan from the oven, remove the foil, cover with cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted and edges begin to brown. If you like a little crunch on the cheese and edges you can set it under the broiler for a minute develop that amazing browning and texture.

7. Allow the pan to rest for about 5 minutes so it doesn't fall apart when you lift it out of the pan. Cut it into 8 sections and serve, enjoy with a salad and some garlic bread, this is food coma central!

Rylan’s Rating: 10/10 – Un-freaking-believable! (He had two pieces) 

Main Course

Italian

dairy-free, lasagna

Modifiers and Substitutions

Dairy-Friendly: You can absolutely swap out the tofu ricotta for traditional dairy ricotta, of course you can, why couldn’t you? A substitute if you’re not a fan of ricotta is getting dry cottage cheese and blending it a little. My mom used cottage cheese my entire childhood through adolescence.

Dairy-Free: You’re ahead of the game with the tofu ricotta, and there is no issue swapping for dairy-free cheese. The link for the Dairy-Free Basil Pesto if you missed it above.

Vegetarian/Vegan: The Bad Manners original recipe was aimed at being vegetarian, you could easily swap in a meat-free protein ground, there are more options than ever. Or drop the protein completely like the OG recipe.

Low Carb: Swap out the wheat pasta noodle for thinly sliced zucchini, eggplant, or sweet potato are a great vegetable options. You could also use rice paper sheets or see if you can find Konjac lasagna sheets.

Lemon: The last time I made this I had no lemon in the house at all. But I did have lemon extract, so best cause scenario you have fresh lemons on hand and can use the juice and zest, as a backup you have bottled lemon juice and no zest, and last resort use a little lemon extract.

Pesto: This can be store bought, homemade, dairy-free or dairy-friendly. It all works! Link to the Dairy-Free Pesto recipe if you missed it above.

Cauldron Corner

No surprise here, but the Best G-Damn Lasagna is packed with all kinds of great ingredients.

• Garlic: Strengths, courage, endurance, protection, health, inspiration, male fertility
• Lemon: Romance, love, friendship, creative energy, joy, happiness, fulfillment, break bad habits, purification
• Mushroom: Strength, courage, healing, health, hidden truth, psychic powers, new changes, rebirth
• Onion: Promises, oaths, protection, banishing, warding, spirituality, energy, psychic powers, male fertility
• Pepper/Cayenne: Protection, purification, cleansing, banishing. Also antiseptic
• Salt: Protection, purification, barrier, shield Spinach Money, fortitude, strength, health, prosperity, endurance, passion
• Sunflower Seeds: Good luck, fertility, joy, self confidence, self love, abundance
• Tofu: Wealth, happiness, destiny
• Tomato: Luck, protection, health, love, romance, wellness, ward off negativity, money
• Turkey: Prosperity, abundance, generosity, fertility, harmony with nature
• Wheat: Conception, rebirth, fertility, abundance, prosperity, Goddess
• Basil: Love, exorcism, wealth, sympathy, and protection. Dispels confusion, fears & weakness.
• Vinegar: Preservation, keep negative energies away, purification
• Dairy: Positivity, joy, health, accomplishments, higher energies, inspiration