Vegetarian Lasagna Bolognese

Name: Vegetarian Lasagna Bolognese
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Cuisine: italian
Ingredients: Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan; 1 pound ricotta (about 2 cups); 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish; 1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half; 1 large egg, beaten; Pinch of ground nutmeg; 3 cups shredded mozzarella (about 12 ounces); Kosher salt and black pepper; 1 pound (dried) lasagna noodles (about 20 sheets); Olive oil, for drizzling; 6 cups vegan Bolognese; 1 cup finely grated vegetarian Parmesan (optional)

By Alexa Weibel

Updated Feb. 22, 2021

Vegetarian Lasagna Bolognese — Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 4(859)
Comments: Read comments

There’s no way around it: Good lasagna is a labor of love, building deep flavor layer by layer. But the effort required on the front end pays off greatly, especially since the dish can be prepared in advance. Start with this vegan Bolognese, and half your work is done. The rest comes together easily: Stir together a parsleyed ricotta filling, boil your noodles, assemble your lasagna and bake until bubbly and browned. Rich, creamy and deeply satisfying, this lasagna happens to be vegetarian, but your guests will hardly know the difference.

Featured in: This Bolognese May Be Meatless, but It Has Good Bones

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
1pound ricotta (about 2 cups)
⅓cup finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
¼cup heavy cream or half-and-half
1large egg, beaten
Pinch of ground nutmeg
3cups shredded mozzarella (about 12 ounces)
Kosher salt and black pepper
1pound (dried) lasagna noodles (about 20 sheets)
Olive oil, for drizzling
6cups vegan Bolognese
1cup finely grated vegetarian Parmesan (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter. Set aside.
Step 2
While the water comes to a boil, prepare the ricotta filling: In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, ⅓ cup parsley, cream, beaten egg and nutmeg. Fold in 2 cups mozzarella. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
Step 3
Once the water comes to a boil, season it generously with salt, then cook the noodles just until slightly softened, about 6 minutes. (The noodles shouldn’t be fully cooked so they hold up after baking.) Transfer the cooked noodles to a colander and rinse immediately under cold water. Drizzle with oil immediately and toss to coat to prevent sticking.
Step 4
Assemble the lasagna: Spoon about 1 cup sauce into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Top with one layer of lasagna noodles, trimming the noodles as needed. (They can overlap slightly, but should be trimmed if the overlap is significant.) Dollop a heaping ¾ cup ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, and spread in an even layer. Pour 1 cup sauce on top, and spread in an even layer. Repeat with 3 more layers of noodles, ricotta and sauce. Top with one final layer of noodles, then a final layer of sauce. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining mozzarella, then the Parmesan.
Step 5
Cover the lasagna tightly with aluminum foil and bake until warmed through and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and broil on the top rack until browned in spots, about 3 minutes.
Step 6
Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley, then let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Ratings

4 out of 5

859 user ratings

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Comments

Beverly3 years ago

Fantastic! I made the vegan bolognese recipe as written and enjoyed half of it for Friday night dinner with pasta. Then I used the remaining 3 cups sauce for a baby lasagna, halving this recipe and assembling in an 8x8 pan. It was truly the best of both worlds as I got to enjoy the complexity and nuance for the vegan bolognese in it’s less adorned form (and get some rest after a majorly labor intensive recipe) then repurpose the leftovers into something grand.

Samantha4 years ago

I used the cauliflower bolognese recipe from BA which is much simpler and worked great with this dish!

NanB2 years ago

To those who are wondering about using oven ready pasta, I did and it was just fine. Also prepped it in advance and froze it (unbaked), let it thaw in fridge overnight then baked it before dinner party. Gave it maybe 5-10 more minutes. Came out great

sara3 months ago

The 30 minute cook time was way too short. I prepped the sauce ahead of time and refrigerated it, which might account for some of the discrepancy.

Christine McMahon5 months ago

I wanted to love this but I just didn't. Don't think I would make again.

HintsFromHomie6 months ago

I made this with the exact ingredients minus the salt additions at almost every prep stage, a risky first time entry to serve our visiting foodie friends. Even with the omission of all that salt we all agreed it was still overkill, the likely culprit being the dark soy. I’d suggest the red pepper flake should be reduced if not swapped out for a teaspoon of Loganma sweet chili crisp. Prep time was reduced by using an Oxo kitchen mallet on the walnuts in a Gallon Ziplock and a fine grid steel masher on the heated tomato veggie mix, the rest went quickly with practiced knife skills with seriously sharp blades. Happily I had also made a Chinese Chicken and Green Bean to celebrate the arrival of two vintage Taiwanese made bamboo handled spatula and ladle wok tools. That was a real winner, the vegetarian bolognese not so much and never again.

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