Vegan Meat Sauce! (+ goat cheese lasagna)

So very delicious!! Adapted from the World's Best Lasagna recipe I found via my phone while at the grocery store. This is the third time I've made it, and the lasagna, too.

• 1 package Upton's Naturals Italian Sausage style seitan
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (15 ounce) can canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

I saute the seitan with the onions & garlic, browning the seitan a bit. The rest of the ingredients- the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, sugar, seasonings, salt, pepper, and parsley (if you have it) go in the crock pot. When the seitan/onions/garlic is done, add that to the crock pot and turn on low for 6-8 hours (while you're at work.)

We actually used about 2 cups of the sauce the first night (didn't have time to bake lasagna) with sauteed crimini mushrooms in olive oil and gnocchi. Very tasty. You certainly don't have to use all the sauce in the lasagna- this makes a HUGE amount of sauce. You can also cook the sauce on the stove top, for 2.5 hours in a dutch oven- see original recipe for that. 

To make the lasagna, you need:

• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces Tofutti ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8-10 ozpound goat mozzarella cheese, grated
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I skipped this, since I don't really care for the texture/taste of Rice Parm- if you can handle sheep Romano, you could use that- if you skip it, just add a little extra mozzarella) 
  

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine Tofutti ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.


Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.