Mamma Mia! Lasagna's as good as the hype

[Bobbie]

About a year and a half ago I heard rave reviews about the Green Zebra Lasagna from Pure Food and Wine (Matthew Kenney/Sarma Melngailis) and since then I've been wanting to make it. But I've never managed to buy all the ingredients at once.
I finally made it today (with a few changes) and even though I was expecting it to be special, I was still blown away. It was exquisite. I've never eaten real (meat) lasagna, so I don't know how it compares. I've only eaten cooked shopbought vegetable lasagna, and this was very similar. The cheese and the tomato sauce were exactly like those used in the readymeals I used to eat. The zucchini slices were delicious, and the pistachio-pesto was really decadent.

I halved the recipe, and it still made 4 servings. I don't use nutritional yeast because it's not raw, so I added a third of a yellow pepper to the cheese instead. I remembered Shazzie has a cheezey spread made from pepper, pine nuts, lemon juice and salt.
I can't get hold of green zebra tomatoes here so I used ordinary organic tomatoes.

[Bobbie]

Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagna
with basil-pistachio pesto, tomato sauce, and pignoli ricotta
(raw)

Serves 6

We like the vibrant color and tart flavor of green zebra tomatoes, a heirloom variety, for this dish. Of course you can use any tomatoes, preferably heirloom. Use the best quality sun-dried tomatoes you can find (but not he kind packed in olive oil, as this is most often not cold-pressed). The brighter ones make for a redder sauce, which will add good, Italian-flag contrast to the dish.

The first real raw food dish that we ever prepared was a rougher version of this. It has since become the best-selling dish on our restaurant menu and is a perfect introduction for anyone trying raw foods for the first time. The flavors and textures are all familiar, and the vibrant nature of the dish always leaves a strong impression. Many variations on this are possible. Feel free to add marinated wild mushrooms or substitute summer squash for zucchini. As in so many other dishes, the quality, seasonality and freshness of the ingredients are the most important elements.”

For the pignoli ricotta:

2 cups raw pignoli (pine) nuts, soaked for 1 hour or more
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons filtered water

Place the pignoli nuts, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times, until throughly combined, Gradually add the water and process until the texture becomes fluffy, like ricotta.

For the tomato sauce:

2 cups sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 2 hours or more
1 small to medium tomato, diced
1/4 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons sea salt
Pinch of hot pepper flakes

Squeeze and drain as much of the water out of the soaked sun-dried tomatoes as you can. Add the drained tomatoes to a Vita-Mix or high-speed blender with he remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

For the basil-pistachio pesto:

2 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup pistachios
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Place the pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined but still slightly chunky.

For the assembly:

3 medium zucchini, ends trimmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 medium green zebra tomatoes (or other heirloom variety), cut in half and then sliced
Whole basil leaves for garnish

1 Cut the zucchini crosswise in half, or into 3-inch lengths. Using a mandolin or vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices, In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini slices with the olive oil, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper.

2 Line the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with a layer of zucchini slices, each one slightly overlapping another. Spread about 1/3 of the tomato sauce over it and top with small dollops of “ricotta” and pesto, using about 1/3 of the tomato sauce over it and top with a small dollops of “ricotta” and pesto, using about 1/3 of each. Layer on about 1/3 of the tomato slices. Add another layer of zucchini slices and repeat twice more with the tomato sauce, “ricotta,” pesto, and tomato slices. Serve immediately, or cover with plastic and let sit at room temperature for a few hours. Garnish with basil leaves.

3 Alternatively, to make individual servings, place about 3 zucchini slices, slightly overlapping, in the center of each serving plate, to make a square shape. Spread tomato sauce over the zucchini, top with small dollops of “ricotta” and pesto and a few small tomato slices. Repeat twice more. Garnish with basil leaves. Any leftover lasagna, whether made in a tray or individually, will taste great if kept in the refrigerator for at least a day or more, but it won’t look as good (which doesn’t matter if you’re standing by yourself and eating it directly from the refrigerator, as we’ve been known to do at home).

[Carmella]

Bobbie,

Thanks for giving your feedbacks on this! I, too, have been eyeing the recipe for a while but haven't quite managed to gather all the ingredients. I tend to get intimidated when it calls for expensive stuff like pine nuts and pistachios.

In your opinion, could these be substituted at all or it would give permanent damage to the perfect balance the lasagna has? I was thinking maybe along the lines of part walnuts and part pine nuts for the cheese. No idea really what pistachios could be replaced with though...

Oh well! At least, now I know that when I do make it, it will be well worth it!

[3bigdogs]

Hi there, this looks absolutely yummy. I have only just begun on RAW and I am so overwhelmed by all the recipes. I have several RAW cookbooks, and I have decided to simply start at the beginning and make each item that appeals to me-guess I will be busy for awhile :D . This recipe definately appeals. Can you tell me what exactly is nutritional yeast? Where would it be located in a whole foods store? Thanks.

[Ama]

This sounds terrific. I admit I am often intimidated by a long list of ingredients. I have still yet to try the calzone!!! I have a list of things to try and this is one of them. Thanks bunches for sharing!

[mbf]

This is an amazing dish. It's my husbands favorite. The recipe can be overwhelming at first so just allow yourself plenty of time to make it. Once you have made it a few times you will get a lot faster.

I go lighter on the salt all around, first time I made it I felt it was way to salty.

Another amazing recipe from this book is the recipe for the apple walnut crepes......to amazing to describe!

Mara

[Bobbie]

Bobbie,

Thanks for giving your feedbacks on this! I, too, have been eyeing the recipe for a while but haven't quite managed to gather all the ingredients. I tend to get intimidated when it calls for expensive stuff like pine nuts and pistachios.

In your opinion, could these be substituted at all or it would give permanent damage to the perfect balance the lasagna has? I was thinking maybe along the lines of part walnuts and part pine nuts for the cheese. No idea really what pistachios could be replaced with though...

Oh well! At least, now I know that when I do make it, it will be well worth it!

Yes I was put off by the expense, that's why in the end I only made half the quantity. It made four servings. Maybe some people would serve bigger portions but it was very rich, I don't think I could have eaten more.

It didn't take many pistachios, I only used 1/4 a cup. It was a much higher ratio of basil to nuts than other pestos I've made. This pesto tasted a lot stronger - I don't know whether that was because there was more basil, or more salt, or it was the taste of the pistachios - I'm pretty useless at uncooking, sorry. Maybe pumpkin seeds could be used instead?
For the cheese, cashews seem to be the most popular choice for raw cheese and dairy. I suppose if you have a favourite ricotta recipe you've made before, you could use that? I've never made a raw lasagna before so I've nothing to compare it to, so I don't know whether changing the cheese or pesto would spoil it. I'd never heard of adding pesto to lasagne before, it really improves it.

[Bobbie]

Hi there, this looks absolutely yummy. I have only just begun on RAW and I am so overwhelmed by all the recipes. I have several RAW cookbooks, and I have decided to simply start at the beginning and make each item that appeals to me-guess I will be busy for awhile :D . This recipe definately appeals. Can you tell me what exactly is nutritional yeast? Where would it be located in a whole foods store? Thanks.

Nutritional yeast is a healthy sort of deactivated yeast. It's full of B Vitamins and some people, especially vegans use it as a vitamin supplement. It has a cheesey flavour so its used to make cheese substitutes, cheesey sauces and pates. It's used in this recipe to make the ricotta taste cheesey but it's not raw. A lot of raw vegans do use it and it's used in a lot of raw recipe books.
You should be able to find it in any health-food-store, if not it's easily available on the internet.

Kefir grains are a type of yeast - I was wondering if they taste cheesey and could be used instead???
Anyway the yellow pepper was nice. For some reason pine nuts, lemon juice and pepper blended together can end up tasting a bit cheesey.

[Bobbie]

This is an amazing dish. It's my husbands favorite. The recipe can be overwhelming at first so just allow yourself plenty of time to make it. Once you have made it a few times you will get a lot faster.

I go lighter on the salt all around, first time I made it I felt it was way to salty.

Another amazing recipe from this book is the recipe for the apple walnut crepes......to amazing to describe!

Mara

It's my mum's favourite too. She said she wants this for Christmas next year instead of faux turkey.

[Carmella]

Hey Bobbie,

Thanks for the tip about cutting the recipe in half. I'll definitely be doing that! I'll try it as soon as I can get my hands on some raw pistachios (I've only ever seen roasted ones before).

[Evie]

Trader Joes usually has raw pistachios. That is were I ge mine. It is better priced than some ot the bigger stores.

[Raw Jewelrylady]

Yeah- so glad this was posted. I have been *eyeing* this recipe for a while now.

I have the book & I am going to make it today. Halving the recipe as well.

I will post a photo when it is complete.

Thanks, :)

Lana

[carolg]

Bobbie,
Thanks for taking the time to share. Sounds great.
carolg

[Nini]

Yummmm......
Thanks for sharing!

My sister asked me for a recipe that she could make for my birthday. She said it could be complicated, so this looks like my choice!

Nini :)

[Raw Jewelrylady]

Wow- We LOVED this Lasagne. :)

To make it easier for me...I just did all the prep...making the pesto, *ricotta* & tom sauce earlier-placed in frig...& then before dinner I sliced & diced-etc & put it together.

My first slices photo isn't so great so I will post one tomorrow when I get a better shot.



Lana

[MaryWalker]

I made this last night and it was really good! I halved the receipe also and it made a lot! My husband and I ate it for dinner last night with a salad and I have over 1/2 of it left. He ate it, but didn't like it as much as I did. That's okay . . . more for me! I will finish it up tomorrow, I'm thinking I will put it onto flax crackers (almost like a spread) to give it a bit of crunch!

[Bobbie]

I made it again today and the pesto wasn't as strong, so I think maybe I accidentally used too much salt last time. This time it tasted pretty much like any other basil pesto so you can probably use any pesto recipe, so long as it's high in basil.

I used it to make pesto mushrooms and once dehydrated it did taste different from the others. But for the lasagna the pistachios probably aren't essential.

[Bobbie]

I made this last night and it was really good! I halved the receipe also and it made a lot! My husband and I ate it for dinner last night with a salad and I have over 1/2 of it left. He ate it, but didn't like it as much as I did. That's okay . . . more for me! I will finish it up tomorrow, I'm thinking I will put it onto flax crackers (almost like a spread) to give it a bit of crunch!

Sorry he didn't like it.
Italian tomato sauce is my favourite food so I'm biased towards dishes containing it. My mother isn't though and this is her favourite raw dish...so I guess we need a few more opinions!

Putting it onto crackers is a great idea. On the webpage with the Mediterranean Almond bread the author says he uses it to make sandwiches with leftover lasagna.

[Lady Green Jeans]

Bobbie,

Glad you started this thread. Made the lasagna for dinner tonight (half the recipe) and it is fantastic. Am still recovering from a nasty cold, but was really wanting something filling and decadent. Fit the bill on both counts. So true that one piece is quite filling. Tomorrow is going to have to be a "lasagna out" day to eat the rest of the recipe. (Editing this to add that I, too, cut the salt in half and it was right on the mark).

Have to say I enjoyed this so much more than the old sad version I used to eat.

[Ingenue]

That's a fantastic recipe. I eat at Pure all the time and can not get enough of the lasagna...And their mallomars? To die for....

xoxoxo Ingenue