Vegan Eggplant Bake

After a great dinner of vegan lasagna with my fabulous vegan friends, I decided to branch out a bit more and come up with some kind of eggplant parmesan dish. Here we have it, a vegan eggplant bake! This was very similar to the lasagna I made. The only changes I made were: eggplant instead of lasagna noodles, a slightly different marinara sauce, a new tofu filling (thanks to Veganomicon), different veggies in the stir-fry layer, and finally, the addition of veggie cheese (unfortunately the cheese I used contains a couple of products that make it vegan-UNfriendly, but there is vegan cheese available out there!).

Vegan Eggplant Bake

A colorful, layered bake very similar to eggplant parmesan, only better!

Ingredients

  

For the marinara sauce, modified from Veganomicon:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 3 (15-oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 (6-oz) can tomato paste
• dried parsley
• dried basil
• dried oregano
• salt 

For the filling, Tofu Ricotta from Veganomicon:

• 1 lb extra-firm tofu
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes 

For the veggie layer:

• olive oil
• 1 pkg soybeans, shelled
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 yellow squash, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• salt
• ground black pepper

Other:

• 1 medium eggplant
• sea salt
• olive oil
• 1 package (12 slices) veggie cheese, mozzarella flavor
• 1/4-1/2 cup grated veggie cheese, parmesan flavor 

Directions:

1. Prepare the marinara sauce: Combine the olive oil, garlic, and onion in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices. Simmer on low for at least 15 minutes, or until ready to use.
2. Prepare the tofu ricotta: In a large bowl, mush the tofu until crumbly. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Mix/mush until consistancy of ricotta cheese, 2-5 min. Add the olive oil, stir with a fork. Add the nutritional yeast and mix together all of the ingredients with a fork. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Roast the eggplant: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet. Slice the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch thick rounds. Place rounds on the baking sheet and salt and brush olive oil on both sides of each slice. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip eggplant over and bake for another 5-10 minutes longer. While the eggplant is roasting, make the veggie layer. When the eggplant is ready, remove from oven and set aside until ready to use.
4. To make the veggie layer: Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add soybeans, carrots, zucchini, squash, and bell pepper. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper, to taste. Cook until vegetables become tender. Set aside until ready to use.
5. To make the eggplant bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 Pyrex dish. Place about 1 cup marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. Place half of the eggplant rounds on top. Layer with half of the tofu ricotta filling, then half of the stir-fry veggies, and then 6 slices of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Pour half of the remaining marinara on top. Top with the remaining eggplant, tofu ricotta, veggies, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (omit the mozzarella on this one). Top with the rest of the marinara sauce, 6 slices of mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. Cover with tinfoil and bake 50-60 min. Remove from oven and lift one end of the tinfoil to allow the bake to release steam. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

This eggplant bake was DELISH! The tofu ricotta was wonderful! To all you non-vegans, it tasted nothing like tofu! The dish was very flavorful and I have plenty for later! I was able to divide up this dish and freeze it in single servings! Perfect on those late school nights! Enjoy!