De-cheesifying lasagna?

[eyesroll]

My SO doesn't do well with dairy, but I want to make a lasagna. He's not a vegetarian (although he more often chooses vegetarian, poultry or fish dishes to beef/pork) and eggs are OK.

I know there are soy substitutes for mozzarella cheese (are they decent?), but what about the ricotta? Just omit it, add more veggies and play loose and fast with the whole concept?

[Beware the Beast Man]

1. I've heard of tofu in place of ricotta.

Never tried it, considering I'm horrible at preparing tofu.

I'm not a fan of ricotta, either, so I usually just double up on the meat or veggies.

[eyesroll]

3. The tofu ricotta recipes I've seen involve nutritional yeast, agar powder

and other stuff I don't have on hand (and have never worked with). There is a co-op in my neighborhood where I can get that stuff, but I also wanna go to the Italian grocery and I'm not sure whether I'll have time tonight for two trips.

Thanks.

[lakemonster11]

2. You can use a tofu blend to replace the ricotta.

I use the recipe in Robin Robertson's Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow-Cooker (though I usually adapt it for the oven). If I remember right, you sautee the vegetables, then mix them with drained firm tofu, drained soft tofu, minced parsley, a little bit of parmesan cheese (you could use soy), and some salt and pepper.

I've made lasagna with this recipe for my friends and family and no one has ever suspected the tofu substitution.

[eyesroll]

4. Hm...we do have a vegetarian slow-cooker book (somewhere -- we just

moved and most of our books are in a locked room with a missing key...grr...)

It may be that one...I'll take a look when I find the key or get the landlady, thanks!

[LeftyMom]

5. I usually just throw some soy parmesean in the cheese layers

the SoyMage vegan parmesean alternative (purple label, yellow lid) works well. I've tried using Follow Your Heart Mozarella Flavor vegan cheese there instead but it didn't work out well because it really needs direct heat to melt well and the interior layers didn't melt.

[book lady]

6. I have a good recipe for substitute ricotta

2lbs firm tofu, drained
1/2c lemon juice
4t sugar or sugar substitute
1t salt
4T oil
2t basil
1t garlic

Mash tofu, then add other ingredients

Use it just like ricotta in your lasagna recipe

[XNASA]

7. Question.

How is he still allowed to live in Wisconsin, if he doesn't do well with dairy?

:shrug:

[eyesroll]

8. Affirmative action.

:shrug:

I've lived here since 1993 and I don't drink beer. I suppose I fill a quota.

[Magrittes Pipe]

9. Make a lasagna, and give him a couple Lactaids.

:eyes:

[eyesroll]

11. It's not lactose -- it's a histamine reaction made worse by banged-up

sinuses. He gets somewhere between sniffly and snorty, depending on the quantity of dairy eaten. And since I have to listen to said sniffles and snorts at night, it's in my best interest to reduce the dairy accordingly.

[Magrittes Pipe]

13. Bake a lasagna and give him an antihistamine, then.

Sheesh. :eyes:

[eyesroll]

16. Better living through chemistry!

:bounce: :bounce:

[lakemonster11]

17. That happens to me when I have a sinus infection.

When I'm healthy I can eat dairy all day without a problem, but when I have the slightest sinus infection, cheese (especially creamy cheese) sends me running to the cupboard for more Sudafed.

There's also this really nice tea called "Breathe Easy" from Traditional Medicinals that helps to thin the mucus (and tastes quite good, too). Oh, and those "Breathe Right" nose strips help, too.

[eyesroll]

18. His sinuses are messed up from an accident, so I have no idea if the

strips would work or not. I'll pass that along.

He uses some herbal stuff that does help.

Creamy cheeses get him, too.

[Kellanved]

10. replace the ricotta with bechamel

That works pretty well :D. Don't ask me about how to do bechamel without milk, though.

[eyesroll]

12. Hm...soy bechamel?

That might be worth a try when I need a bechamel for a finished product -- that way, I could make a dairy bechamel if the soy version was vile. If it's gross and baked into a lasagna, there's not much I can do.

I'm thinking I might just go with one cheese substitution and just double up on veggies and sauce for the rest.

[u4ic]

14. I don't use any dairy

I use tofu...the pressed one (never tried the silken), and add an egg (or two, depending on the size of the lasanga), as well as lots of sauteed onions, garlic, fresh spinach and shredded cheese. (as well as salt and pepper) I mix it all in the food processor.

I will get two layers out of it.

I found a goat mozzarella that I use instead of cow's milk cheeses.

[mandyky]

15. instead of making a 9 X 13 dish

make 2 half dishes, one without cheese and dairy (just sauce noodles, etc) and one normally made lasagna with cheeses. the one without dairy would resemble baked/stuffed ziti. freeze leftovers.

[TommyO]

20. Loaf Pan Lasagna

I found that making a half-recipe of lasagna in a large loaf pan is amazingly simple, and provides more lasagna than I can possibly eat - I typically make two of them and freeze one immediately. De-cheesifying it is possible, I've done the tofu/spinach route before with soy cheese for my lactose intolerant friends and it seems to have gone over well. If goat milk doesn't cause the histamine reaction, there are some goat's milk mozarellas out there that are fantastic.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

19. Tofu. Extra veggies.

[sbj405]

21. Vegweb is your friend

2 pages of lasagna recipes

This one looks like a standard red sauce (uses tofu instead of ricotta) http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7985.0