Asian Lasagna
Source of Recipe
the web
Recipe Introduction
A combination of cuisines (style from Italy, ingredients from Asia) for a dish more nutritionally-dense and complete than the original Italian lasagna.
List of Ingredients
FILLING
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup broccoli stalks -- peeled, sliced
(florets and stalks from 1 bunch)
1 1/2 tablespoon dark (toasted) sesame oil
180 grams portobella mushrooms -- sliced 1/2" thick
(about 2 large mushrooms, stems chopped)
1 large onion -- diced
4 medium carrots -- sliced
1 medium red bell pepper -- cubed
1/2 pound collard greens -- chopped
(about 8 collard leaves)
6 garlic cloves -- minced
1 1/2 tablespoons ginger juice, fresh
(squeezed from fresh, grated ginger root)
1 tablespoon sweet sherry -- (e.g., mirin)
1/2 tsp sea salt
TEMPEH
1 tablespoon dark (toasted) sesame oil
8 ounces tempeh -- defrosted
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon sweet sherry -- (e.g., mirin)
SAUCE
18 ounces no-salt-added vegetable broth (or water)
14 ounces coconut milk
2 tablespoons ginger juice, fresh
(squeezed from fresh, grated ginger root)
8 garlic cloves -- crushed
3 tablespoons tahini
(adjust tahini depending on your tastes) - (use more if you want a richer dish) - (use less if you want a lighter dish)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons brown rice flour
(or whole-grain spelt flour, but only if the dish can have some gluten)
1 tablespoon white miso
PASTA
1/2 pound no-boil/oven-ready rice lasagna noodles
(or no-boil/over-ready whole wheat lasagna noodles, but only if the dish can have some gluten) - (about 9-12 inch pieces)
GARNISH
4 tablespoons basil, fresh -- chopped
3/4 cup green onions -- chopped (about 6 stalks)
Recipe
FILLING
To prepare the broccoli: a) cut off the florets, b) peel the stalks, and c) dice the stalks.
To prepare the filling, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Saute mushroom, onion, sliced broccoli stalks, carrots, red bell pepper, collard greens, broccoli florets, and garlic, sealing them one at a time (about 40 minutes total). After sealing, season vegetable mixture with ginger juice, sherry, and salt. Turn off heat.
TEMPEH
During this process, prepare tempeh. Steam the tempeh for 20 minutes. Slice tempeh into long 1/4 inch strips. Dab the oil on all sides of all the tempeh strips, then heat a pan over medium-high heat and add the tempeh. Seal on all sides. Combine water, tamari soy sauce, and sherry. When finished, turn down heat and pour combined liquids over the tempeh. Cook gently until all moisture is absorbed by the tempeh, and then turn off the heat.
SAUCE
As time allows, prepare the sauce. Combine all sauce ingredients, except flour and miso, in a sauce pan. Slowly sprinkle in flour stirring continuously so lumps do not form. If you use less tahini, you will need a little more flour. Heat over low to medium-low heat for about 7 minutes to integrate and thicken. The sauce should be not get too thick. Add additional water if needed to make a thin sauce texture (or add additional flour to thicken more). Take a 1/4 cup of sauce out of the sauce pan, and dissolve the miso in it. Add this back to the sauce, and stir. Turn off heat.
ASSEMBLY
To assemble, use a large (about 9"x13") baking pan. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan (about 3/4 cup). Place 3 pieces of lasagna noodles (about 1/3 of the noodles) in the bottom of the pan. You don't want the noodles to overlap since the pasta will expand during baking. Spread another thin layer of sauce over the noodles. Lay half of the tempeh slices on this, and then spread half of the vegetable filling on top and around the tempeh. Continue this noodle-tempeh-filling layering until all filling is used, and then top with the last layer of noodles, covering it thoroughly with sauce. There should be 3 layers of noodles, and 2 layers of tempeh/filling.
Cover pan with foil, and bake in a 375 degree F (190 degree C) oven (no need to preheat oven) for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake 10 minutes more to give the top layer a golden brown appearance.
Serve garnished with basil and green onions.
VARIATIONS
- For a lower fat dish, replace coconut milk in the sauce with an equal amount of water plus 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract/flavoring.
- Use even more coconut milk in place of some of the water in the sauce. Note: this will give the dish a higher fat content.
- You can use any type of lasagna noodles: if you use noodles that are not oven ready, prepare the noodles as described on the box and then use in this recipe as described; if you are not concerned about gluten in the dish, you can use regular (wheat) lasagna noodles.
- Use pressed tofu in place of tempeh.
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