sharing raw, vegan recipes and advice
Wonderful veggie lasagna. I was going through my mother-in-law’s cookbooks and saw this recipe for Portobellow Lasagna and I thought “i can do that raw!”... here is my attempt. It was my first time ever using raw eggplant, so if you don’t like it or can’t get it soft enough, just use zucchini instead!
1 Small Eggplant, Thinly Sliced on mandoline
2 Portobello Mushrooms, Thinly sliced with knife
1 Small Broccoli Crown (about one cup), Washed and chopped slightly
1 cup favorite Marinara Sauce
½ cup Pine Nuts or other nut preference
1 dash salt
1 dash black pepper
1 clove garlic
½ cup olive oil
Thinly slice the eggplant (i peeled mine first) on a mandoline – or if your really good, do it by hand! Then, slice the portobellow. Lay the slices on a plate and drizzle with Olive Oil and sprinkle with Sea Salt. Put in dehydrator on 105 for about 4 hours. I guess you don’t need to do this part, but i wanted mine really soft like noodles. When done dehydrating, take out and let sit while preparing the rest.
Put Broccoli, Garlic, pinch of sea salt, pinch of black pepper and the pine nuts in a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. I used just the florets, but i’m sure you could use the rest. You could substitute spinach nicely here too. This makes a Broccoli Cheese filling….
Prepare your favorite Marinara sauce. I did mine by using 2 tomatoes, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 cup soaked sun dried tomatoes, 3 dates, salt, pepper and dried oregano flakes. If i had some fresh basil, i would’ve added that too!
I made mine individual, so that’s how i’ll tell you how to assemble… i’m sure you could do this in a square dish too. Take 2 slices of eggplant and lie side by side. Top with some broccoli mix and spread it around. Pour a little marinara over that. Then, top with a layer of the portobello’s. Repeat until you have your desired height. I think i did 3 layers.
Put back in dehydrator for an hour or so.
NOTE: This sounds like a lot of work, but it’s not. It’s quick and easy, you just have to remember to cut your veggie’s up before lunch and then assemble everything before dinner. The additional dehydration is not necessary, but i wanted to get everything nice and soft. I also threw some nuts in a blender with a little water and some salt and made a cheeze drizzle.
The Lasagna looks nice, but is messy/hard to eat because the eggplant did not get soft enough for me. If your an eggplant pro, then you know how to get yours softer. I’m sure you could also chop up the eggplant into smaller thinner pieces and layering like this. I’ve heard that just leaving the eggplant in Olive Oil and salt will soften it, but i dehydrated it anyway.
Lisa - i did that and it did help to soften! I also made the filling using spinach instead of broccoli and it was soooooooooooooo good!!!
This sounds pretty easy to do. I think thought that I will soak the eggplant in the water left over from the sundried tomatoes. That should soften the eggplant and add a little extra flavoring.
QT - thanks, i'm glad i'm not the only one :) It was really good other than the chewyness... nothing a knife couldn't handle!
Hi Carrie
Thanks for posting this... I had a similar experience with dehydrated eggplant that looked like it would be soft but was very chewy. I had made roll ups with a nut cheese filling and topped it with raw marinara... but that eggplant was too chewy to enjoy or do again.
Thanks Staraw (I like your name btw)... I will try that with the eggplant rollups to see if that suggestion will work with that recipe too... if so I will post it for others to enjoy!
Namaste
QT
Do you leave it just sitting on the counter or in the fridge? I was never really a fan of the taste of cooked eggplant, so i was surprised that i liked it raw :) Thanks for the advice!
Sounds really good :) I found if you skip the dehydrating and just leave the lasanga to soak up all the yummo sauce for about a day and overnight the eggplant is perfect!