Vegetarian Lasagna Bolognese

By Alexa Weibel

Updated Feb. 22, 2021

Vegetarian Lasagna Bolognese
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(865)
Comments
Read comments

There’s no way around it: Good lasagna is a labor of love, building deep flavor layer by layer. But the effort required on the front end pays off greatly, especially since the dish can be prepared in advance. Start with this vegan Bolognese, and half your work is done. The rest comes together easily: Stir together a parsleyed ricotta filling, boil your noodles, assemble your lasagna and bake until bubbly and browned. Rich, creamy and deeply satisfying, this lasagna happens to be vegetarian, but your guests will hardly know the difference.

Featured in: This Bolognese May Be Meatless, but It Has Good Bones

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
  • 1pound ricotta (about 2 cups)
  • ⅓cup finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
  • ¼cup heavy cream or half-and-half
  • 1large egg, beaten
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg
  • 3cups shredded mozzarella (about 12 ounces)
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1pound (dried) lasagna noodles (about 20 sheets)
  • Olive oil, for drizzling
  • 6cups vegan Bolognese
  • 1cup finely grated vegetarian Parmesan (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter. Set aside.

  2. Step 2

    While the water comes to a boil, prepare the ricotta filling: In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, ⅓ cup parsley, cream, beaten egg and nutmeg. Fold in 2 cups mozzarella. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Once the water comes to a boil, season it generously with salt, then cook the noodles just until slightly softened, about 6 minutes. (The noodles shouldn’t be fully cooked so they hold up after baking.) Transfer the cooked noodles to a colander and rinse immediately under cold water. Drizzle with oil immediately and toss to coat to prevent sticking.

  4. Step 4

    Assemble the lasagna: Spoon about 1 cup sauce into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Top with one layer of lasagna noodles, trimming the noodles as needed. (They can overlap slightly, but should be trimmed if the overlap is significant.) Dollop a heaping ¾ cup ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, and spread in an even layer. Pour 1 cup sauce on top, and spread in an even layer. Repeat with 3 more layers of noodles, ricotta and sauce. Top with one final layer of noodles, then a final layer of sauce. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining mozzarella, then the Parmesan.

  5. Step 5

    Cover the lasagna tightly with aluminum foil and bake until warmed through and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and broil on the top rack until browned in spots, about 3 minutes.

  6. Step 6

    Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley, then let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
865 user ratings
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Comments

Beverly

Fantastic! I made the vegan bolognese recipe as written and enjoyed half of it for Friday night dinner with pasta. Then I used the remaining 3 cups sauce for a baby lasagna, halving this recipe and assembling in an 8x8 pan. It was truly the best of both worlds as I got to enjoy the complexity and nuance for the vegan bolognese in it’s less adorned form (and get some rest after a majorly labor intensive recipe) then repurpose the leftovers into something grand.

Samantha

I used the cauliflower bolognese recipe from BA which is much simpler and worked great with this dish!

NanB

To those who are wondering about using oven ready pasta, I did and it was just fine. Also prepped it in advance and froze it (unbaked), let it thaw in fridge overnight then baked it before dinner party. Gave it maybe 5-10 more minutes. Came out great

Mark B

Made this as described, together with the vegan Bolognese sauce, and it was a huge hit with our family. What a great blend of flavors!

WillKS

After making this twice, I think I need more of the vegan Bolognese sauce or to make the ricotta layers thicker. There are 6 layers of sauce...two more than of ricotta. My top sauce layer was scant; the mozzarella and parmesan layer disguised it successfully. Despite my portion control issues, it is nonetheless a winning recipe.

WillKS

Due to a mushroom adverse guest, subbed Impossible Beef in the Vegan Bolognese. The outcome was delicious. Popular with the non-vegetarians, too.

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