Vegan Mexican Lasagne Recipe

serves 4

Jerome and I have decided to have Monday nights our 'Mexican Invention' night. We have planned to dress up in sombreros and invent a new Mexican dish every Monday night... We will see how long this lasts :P Anyway, Last night I really felt like something Mexican so we decided to make a Mexican lasagne and use up the spare lasagne sheets in the pantry. It turned out amazingly! You will absolutely love this. It is wholesome, flavoursome and so easy. It is the perfect dish to make for non-vegans to show them how amazingly talented and well-fed we are! hehehe... The Mexican-y sauce, tofu layer and the hidden goodies make this an  easy week-night dish. The option with this dish is to use lasagne sheets, thin eggplant slices OR tortillas. Your choice! I also made a yummy guacamole to add to the yumminess. We hope you love this as much as we do. :)

Tofu Sauce

   300g silken tofu, whisked until smooth
   2 shallots, thinly sliced
   2 tablespoons black sliced olives
   2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
   juice of one medium lime
   salt and pepper, to taste

Tomato Sauce
   800g can diced tomatoes in juice
   2 tablespoons tomato paste
   1 tablespoon sugar
   1 tomato, diced
   1/2 red capsicum, diced
   2 garlic cloves, crushed
   1/2 teaspoon cumin
   1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
   salt and pepper, to taste
   

Other
   1 large zucchini, peeled into noodles
   pack of lasagne sheets or tortillas*
   2 handfuls of baby spinach
   500g can of mixed beans, drained
   olive oil
   1 shallot, thinly sliced
   1 tablespoon black sliced olives
   coriander leaves, to garnish
   my guacamole, to garnish (optional)

1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 180 degrees Celsius and spray oil a casserole dish. ( My casserole dish is 28cm long x 15cm across x 5cm up.)
2. In a bowl, mix together all tofu sauce ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix all tomato sauce ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
4. Using a peeler, peel a large zucchini into noodle strips and set aside.
5. Layer your lasagne as desired in the casserole dish or follow my layering option:
   Spread 1/3 of the tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish. Follow with a layer of lasagne sheets or tortillas. Add 2 handfuls of baby spinach on top of that. Follow with 1/2 of the tofu mixture. Then add another layer of lasagne sheets or tortillas. Add 1/2 of the remaining tomato mixture. Layer the zucchini noodles evenly over the tomato mixture.  Spread out the can of mixed beans. Follow with another layer of lasagne sheets or tortillas. Spread the rest of the tomato sauce on top and follow with the rest of the tofu sauce. 
6. Decorate the top of the lasagne with the extra black sliced olives, the shallots and drizzle with olive oil.
7. Cook in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is browning and the corners are bubbling. Poke with a knife to make sure it is cooked through and tender.
8. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and cool until cutting and serving.
9. Option: quickly whip up my guacamole recipe to serve with the lasagne.
10. Serve with fresh coriander leaves and the guacamole if desired. Enjoy!

• Allowing the lasagne to sit before serving will make it easier to cut and will allow the layers to set.
• The guacamole really adds a nice kick to the lasagne. 
• *If you do not want to use tortillas or lasagne sheets for your layers then you could always use slices of eggplant. Eggplant is absolutely delicious in lasagne and is a great divider!
• My casserole dish is 28cm long x 15cm across x 5cm up.