17 June 2008

okara lasagna •




This is a cheesy, vegetarian version of lasagna using Okara Pasta. I am very fortunate to get pint jars of my mother’s home canned spaghetti sauce. The recipe for her sauce (what information I pulled out of her—she doesn’t follow a true recipe)follows. 

Okara Lasagna •

1 recipe Okara Pasta, made into lasagna noodles.
1 pint spaghetti sauce
1 (10 ounce)package of frozen chopped spinach-defrosted and drained throughly.
12 to 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine:

1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup wet okara (this is referring to the okara straight from your machine, not dried)
1 large egg
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cloves garlic, finely  minced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix above ingredients throughly, set aside. Spray a 13" x 9" pan with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan. Layer lasagna noodles, one-half of ricotta mixture, one-half of spinach, one-third of mozzarella cheese. Repeat with sauce, noodles, ricotta mixture, spinach, and mozzarella. End with a layer of noodles and mozzarella cheese. Spray a large sheet of foil with vegetable spray and cover pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Gma’s Spaghetti Sauce •

In a large skillet sauté:

2 green peppers, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Add:

1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
Water as needed

*Sometimes, mom tells me, she adds paprika, brown sugar, and ground carrots to her sauce.

14 comments:

grace said...

niiiiiiiice! i love the marvelous cheesiness and the addition of spinach. and i have to say, the combination of brown sugar, ground carrots, and paprika in a spaghetti sauce sounds amazing. see if you can dig that exact recipe out of your ma! :)

Dharm said...

you never fail to amaze me with all the stuff you make out of Okara! That vege lasagne looks just great! fantastico

toontz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ivy said...

Thanks for passing by my blog and leaving your comment. This gave me the chance to come over and look at some of your delicious recipes. However, okara is new to me. First time I've heard of it and just looked it up in Wiki. Sounds interesting. I like the theme of your event and shall do my best to post something. Maybe you can post something for the event Ben and I are organizing: http://kopiaste.blogspot.com/2008/05/fat-chefs-or-skinny-gourmets-food-event.html

Okara sounds like something very healthy.

Anonymous said...

definitely a good move with ricotta cheese. love ricotta :) and absolutely adore how that lasagne juice is flowing out onto the plate! mmmm. :)

toontz said...

Grace-
You don’t know what I went through to get the information I have already! She says, “Just use your judgement”— HA!

Dharm-
Thank you! The little darlings gobble it up, which is always a good thing around here. I can hide other veggies in it, too (sliced zucchini in the last pan).

toontz said...

Ivy-
I will try very hard to come up with something for your event. Thanks for dropping by!

Thanks, Diva! I can’t buy lasagna noodles anymore at the store, we like the homemade okara noodles too much!

Thistlemoon said...

I love lasagna! It is one of the best foods! We just had one recently too when visiting my mom - what is it about moms and lasagnas? :)

SteamyKitchen said...

can't wait to learn more from you. I have a soy milk machine and my boys used to drink soy exclusively. For some reason, they boy decided no more soy milk and didn't like the taste anymore! (they are 3 and 5)

looking for ways to get them to enjoy soy

Elle said...

Toontz, you are amazing! Truly creative dish. And it looks fabulous! I love lasagna, it's such a treat!

toontz said...

Jenn-
Having a mom and being a mom, I think one of the attractions (besides flavor) is that it is a one pan dish that usually has leftovers!

Jaden-Thank you! That remark coming from you is truly appreciated—your recipes are so creative and delicious!

Elle-Thank you. If you lived closer, I would have you over for lunch to share!

Anonymous said...

It's dishes like these that don't make me miss meat at all! I just love the spinach!

Anonymous said...

This looks great - the cheese really does it for me! :) I'm not vegetarian, but do try to eat meatless a few times a week now (which means i need more recipes! ha), and this is going on my list to try, thanks!

Leslie said...

wow..this looks divine!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting about my sleeping beauty cake! Yes she was very excited!!! Stop by to visit anytime!!!