I know I have a few vegetarian readers. And while lasagna with meat and tomato sauce is my preferred method, every once in a while I feel like playing around with my food. I often add spinach to my lasagna anyway, and adding feta cheese seemed natural. I mixed the feta cheese with cottage cheese, and lightened both cheeses by crumbling a block of drained tofu. Actually, I made this a little over a year ago. But the Greek-inspired flavors of spinach and feta cheese made it a good time as any to finally post the recipe. :)
If you don't want to use tofu, then you can just keep the feta and cottage cheese combo,or replace with ricotta cheese or bechamel sauce. Obviously, the tofu makes this less creamy, but the result is way, way lower in calories and much healthier.
Vegetarian Lasagna with Feta Cheese, Spinach, and Tofu
For a 9-by-14-inch pan, you'll need:
1 package of lasagna noodles
1 4 oz block feta cheese
1 1-lb container small curd cottage cheese
1 block of silken tofu, drained
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 large bunch spinach, blanched and drained
1 tsp oregano
I used fresh pasta sheets. If you're using dried pasta, boil and drain. Set aside.
Quickly blanch and drain spinach, squeezing out excess moisture. Set aside.
Pat the block of tofu with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Add the tofu into a bowl along with crumbled feta cheese, a 1-lb container of small curd cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, and 1 tsp oregano. Mix thoroughly.
Start layering the lasagna by adding a thin layer of the cheese mixture on the bottom, then pasta, then spinach. Keep alternating until you use up all the ingredients.
Bake in oven at 350 degrees for half an hour.
Enjoy!
Some other lasagna recipes you might like:
Lasagna with Meat Sauce
Pastitsio (Greek "Lasagna")
Vegetarian Lasagna with Broccoli, Kale, and Zucchini
*****
1 year ago today, Four Color Carrot Salad.
You just gave me another recipe for tofu!! YAY! I love tofu and always in look for tofu dishes. This is sound like a keeper - especially that I am going to India to see in laws, and got to wow them (MIL) with new vegetarian dishes. Heee..
ReplyDeleteThis does look wonderful and although I do eat tofu, I would probably use mushrooms or eggplant in here...both great meat substitutes.
ReplyDeleteIt would never have occurred to me to put tofu in lasagna (not that I have ever cooked lasagna).
ReplyDeleteI do love tofu - it neeeds reclaiming from Anthony Bourdain's too-famous disdain of it. I think you're the one to do it, WC. :-D
Alrighty, a future dinner for us. Thanks for the inspiration! Does it come out tasting more cheesy or more tofu-ey?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that the more punchy feta would disguise the tofu-eyness and render it almost invisible to non-tofu lovers?
ReplyDeletehi, i'm from OC also ...Your blog is awesome .
ReplyDeletei'd like an order of this one...and also one more, the unhealthy one too, please ^_^
ReplyDeleteCecil,
ReplyDeleteHa! I didn't even know you were on a search for tofu recipes. I hope you like this one.
Peter,
I like mushrooms and eggplants too, but I wanted to keep this pretty simple so that the spinach and feta flavors wouldn't be overpowered.
Oanh,
Anthony Bourdain disdains everything! ;) I've got a vegetable and a regular lasagna recipe I need to post. Maybe those will nudge you to try making it.
SIS,
It's half and half. So if you don't want a strong tofu taste, just stick with the cheeses only.
JS,
Yes, hoping anyway. I like tofu, but lots of people don't so they might taste it more than I did.
Co Hai,
Why, thank you! :)
MCR,
I'll save you an order of the regular meat and tomato sauce lasagna. You'd like that better, you non-veggie eater you. ;)