Veganomicon: Lasagne Marinara with Spinach

You may have noticed that we eat a lot of pasta. I think it's one of those food-ruts that vegetarians, especially vegans fall into when they dine frequently with omnivores. It's easy, it's not so weird that other people feel the need to comment on and "judge" your food choices, and it's a very comforting and traditional meal for a lot of modern Euro-American families. We happen to love pasta, not only for those reasons just mentioned, but also because it's a romantic and sensuous food. Pasta cooked al-dente has a soft, yet resilient texture that brings to mind other carnal activities. It also happens that some of our first meals together as a couple revolved around pasta and red wine, which makes it a very evocative menu specifically for us as a couple. So it shouldn't come as too much of a shock that our Valentine's meal came from the pasta family.

I love lasagna, I often make my own version of this dish for us, and I really wanted to love this recipe... but I didn't.

I chose the pinenut cream White and Red Lasagne variation with the standard recipes for Marinara Sauce, Tofu Ricotta, and Almesan (almond-based parmesan substitute) from the book. Unfortunately I think that the combined effect of all of that lemon flavor was overpowering to the finished lasagna. I do love lemon, don't get me wrong, but there is such a thing as too much, especially in a tomato-based dish. Instead of lending a subtle "sparkle" as Christina Pirello would say, the compounded lemon flavor turned into a cloying distraction from what should have been the main cast of characters. If you choose to make this recipe, I suggest making a decision as to which cast member gets the sparkle, and omitting the lemon from the other players.

The second problem with this recipe is that it turned out exceptionally soupy. I don't usually have that much of a problem with excess liquid in my lasagna, and while I did drain and squeeze the spinach, the liquid levels of the dish were overwhelming. I suggest using no-cook noodles and skipping the extra water that the recipe calls for.

Lastly, the amount of oil called for in the various parts of the recipe seemed excessive and really didn't add anything to the flavor or texture of the final product. Go ahead and skip most of the oil in this recipe and give your fat cells a break. Feel free to use a good canned or jarred sauce to save yourself the extra work of preparing the sauce, go ahead and use a frozen spinach instead of fresh, and feel free to use dried garlic instead of fresh here too. I don't think that any of those things would make a significant impact on the recipe, and there's no point in additional work if it doesn't result in exceptional flavor.