Lasagna has been a favorite Sabbath dinner entrée for many years. It seems like a “special occasion” dish. I always dreaded cooking the pasta, what if I cooked more pasta than was needed. One day a friend taught me a trick and I’ve seen this trick used in recipes ever since. You don’t need to cook the pasta ahead of time. Just lay your uncooked noodles in the pan and break if necessary to fit in the pan. After assembling the lasagna, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or for a day or two before baking. The pasta absorbs the moisture and bakes up perfectly.

The Plain Cheese sauce I use in my Macaroni and Cheese recipe can be used here and mixed with the tofu cottage cheese mixture. With greater awareness for plant-based foods, there are more vegan cheese varieties on the market these days. I have used Daiya Cheese Shreds, Follow Your Heart cheese shreds, and Violife cheese shreds. My personal preference for Lasagna is the Follow Your Heart brand.

 

Lasagna
Broccoli
Green Salad
French Bread / Garlic Butter
Lemon Pudding

Pre-Sabbath Prep:
    Lasagna: Prepare the lasagna Wednesday or Thursday and bake the lasagna on Friday.
    Broccoli: Cook and season broccoli with a little salt and sesame seeds and put in casserole dish.
    Salad: Prepare the salad and a dressing of your choice.
    Bread: Make French Bread and Garlic Butter. The bread can be made early in the week, sliced, and frozen. On Friday butter the French Bread and wrap in foil ready for the oven.

Sabbath: Put lasagna, broccoli and bread in oven to warm. I place my food in my propane oven after breakfast with the pilot light on and then turn the heat up to around 350° about an hour before I plan on serving. If you have a time-bake feature on your oven, this is a good time to use it.

Lasagna   (This half recipe will feed the two of us six times)
Uncooked lasagna noodles
Tofu Cottage Cheese:
  1# firm tofu
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon onion powder
  ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  ¼ cup Tofutti or Daiya Sour Cream
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon McKay’s Chicken Seasoning
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 recipe of the Plain Cheese Sauce or any cheese of your choice

Crumble the tofu into a mixing bowl.  Add the salt, onion and garlic powders, and the sour cream.  Mix well.

Sauté onion in dry hot skillet until it begins to caramelize. Add some coconut oil and continue sautéing, stirring occasionally.  Add the sauteed onions and the drained spinach to the tofu cottage cheese.

    To assemble the lasagna

Lightly spray a 9 x 13 or smaller glass pan [I use an 8 x 8 or about a 7 x 9] and ladle about ½ cup of spaghetti sauce mixed with a little water in the bottom of the pan. Sometimes a little extra water is necessary in order to sufficiently cook the pasta.

Place uncooked lasagna noodles length-wise in pan and spread half the tofu/onion/spinach mixture, spaghetti sauce and some cheese, repeat the layering and top off with another layer of noodles and sauce.

Refrigerate overnight. The next day bake covered for 45-60 minutes at 350°. Remove cover and add cheese on top.  Return to oven for cheese to melt.

Hint: Place numerous toothpicks in the lasagna to keep the foil off the top of the lasagna. The toothpicks can be removed once the lasagna is ready to be served.

Variation: Layer your lasagna in a crockpot sprayed with cooking spray. Bake on low for 3-4 hours. High for 2 hours. This method may not be as adaptable for Sabbath unless you have a “Warm” setting on your crockpot.

French bread
I wear out easily, which means I don’t have sufficient energy to knead bread anymore. I went online looking for a French Bread recipe I could make in the bread machine. Oh my, there are lots of recipes. The two I have tried are both good. I did make a minor variation to the recipe by using half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour. One thing I learned was the flour needs to be aerated very well before measuring. Either sift the flour before measuring or aerate by stirring the flour with a spoon before measuring.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water

Add all the ingredients in the order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer. Select the DOUGH setting. On my machine that will be a 1 1/2-hour cycle.

When the bread machine beeps and the cycle is finished, remove the dough from the container and knead on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a loaf and place on an oiled or parchment papered baking sheet and apply a few cuts using a serrated knife and allow to rise about 60 minutes in a warm place.

Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Slice with serrated or electric knife. Enjoy!

Garlic Butter (half recipe)
1 stick Earth Balance margarine, softened (1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced OR 1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chopped parsley OR 1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon shallots or onion OR 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)

Combine all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. It mixes well by hand when butter is extremely soft. Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 6 months.

Broccoli
When God told the Israelites to cook and bake everything on the preparation day for the Sabbath (Exod. 16:23), I have done much thinking about how to deal with delicate vegetables that really taste better when they are freshly cooked. I believe I was inspired to fix the asparagus (in the Macaroni and Cheese menu) in such a way as to cook it on Friday yet have it taste fresh on Sabbath by wrapping it in foil or putting it in a covered casserole dish of some sort and season it. When reheated Sabbath along with the entrée, it was really quite good. With that inspiration I experimented with the broccoli the same way and it was very good and not mushy. The key is: don’t cook it to death in preparation, maybe just almost done. When I warm food on Sabbath I do not bake it again at 350 degrees. I have a propane gas oven with a pilot light that gently warms the oven. About an hour before serving time I turn the heat up to just under 300 degrees, just enough to warm the food to a comfortable eating temperature without burning my tongue or the roof of my mouth.

Steam the broccoli until almost done, or almost al dente. Place in casserole dish and season to taste. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds and top with a small amount of Earth Balance margarine (or maybe even some of the garlic butter above).

Lemon Pudding (This half recipe feeds us twice)
3/8 cup sugar (Florida Crystals)
1/4 cup cornstarch
Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of one lemon
2 cups almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon non-hydrogenated margarine (Earth Balance)
Juice of one lemon

Set 3 or 4 ramekins or cups aside.

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.

Add 1/4 cup milk and whisk to make a smooth paste. Add remaining milk and lemon zest. Whisk well.

Over medium-high heat, heat milk mixture. Allow to come to a simmer, whisking constantly, until pudding is boiling and has thickened.

Turn off heat. Add non-hydrogenated margarine and whisk until melted. Add lemon juice and stir until incorporated. (Lemon juice will cause mixture to foam. Continue stirring until foaming has gone down.

Pour into ramekins or cups. Place in refrigerator and allow to chill at least 30 minutes.

NOTE: This pudding could also be put in a pre-baked pie crust for an easy lemon pie.