Sweet and spicy zucchini lasagna (gf/vegan)

~*~*~I'm gluten free and vegan~*~*~

As are all my recipes
Almost all of my recipes serve 2, many with enough for leftovers
This recipe could easily serve 2 people who are VERY hungry, or 4 people with a side salad.

Stuff you will need for the sauce:

• 2 medium zucchini
• Pam spray oil
• 28 oz crushed tomato (preferably delallo in heavy basil juice, or else you may need tomato paste or to drain the tomatoes if there is a lot of liquid)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbls basil
• .5 tbls garlic powder
• .5 tbls crushed red pepper
• 2 tbls (sugar?) or equivilant sweetner, usually 1 packet of whatever you use is = to 2 tsp sugar. 
• .5 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Stuff you will need for the filling:

• 3/4 cup veggie broth
• .5 tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup dehydrated texturized vegetable protein
• 3 oz crumbled firm tofu
• .5 cup mozzarella daiya (most of my recipes this is take or leave, but with this it really helps stick everything together and helps the texture.)
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• .5 tbls basil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• .5 cup sweet onion, chopped
• 1 cup sauce prepped from above

Prep directions:

• Slice zucchini in 1/4-12 inch thick slices and spritz both sides with pam, sprinkle lightly with garlic salt/basil and let sit
• Blend crushed tomatoes and all seasonings in the sauce list together, preferably with an immersion blender 
• Pour the sweet and spicy marinara into a medium pot and cover while letting it simmer over low heat for about 30-45 minutse. The flavors may seem overly bitter before it cooks but the salty sweetness will come out once it's simmered for awhile
• brnig 3/4 cup veggie broth to a boil and add dehydrated *T*exturized *V*egetable *P*protein (tvp) and quickly mix, it will soak up the liquid and rehydrate. 
• Add .5 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp chili powder
• While it is over very low heat, saute onions in a small pan with a few spritzes of Pam and cook until soft
• Add to tvp mixture 
• To make ricotta mixture with the firm tofu, crumble it into a hot pan, no oil needed
• Let crumbled tofu brown 
• Add spinach and cover pan to let wilt
• Just before it's finished add the .5 tbls basil
• Then mix the ricotta tofu mix into the tvp mixture
• Add 1 cup sauce to mix
• Add .5 cup daiya and mix very well over medium heat for just a minute

Constructing the lasagna:

• First you want to layer the zucchini along the bottom of the pan, my pan is 8x8 and I used four slices across the bottom going horizontally
• Then, layer the filling in the middle, then layer another four slices of zucchini on top and then pour sauce over it, and then add the last .5 cup of mozzarella daiya. it should go something like this: (Ignore how gross my pan is plz. ;) 

 

Cook time:

About 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of your zucchini, test to be sure it's tender, then remove, add the other .5 cup mozzarella daiya and then let melt for about 5 minutes.

To get it out of the pan more easily, I suggest letting it cool for about 5-10 mins before serving, or else it might just slop out all over the plate in a big heaping mess, also it retains heat well and was way too hot for joey to be eating right out of the pan. (I like my food scalding though).

The finished product should look like this: 

If you try this be sure to leave me a comment and let me know how it turned out!