Our lean and easy lasagne has layers of flavor.

Vegetarian Lasagne is a rich, hearty, and satisfying meal, ideal for cold winter months. This meatless dish is also the perfect choice when feeding a crowd, because it can be assembled in advance, frozen, and baked as needed--you don't have to cook and entertain at the same time.

But there are several things about lasagne that scare many people off. Unfortunately, cheesy flavor often translates into a lot of fat. Many lasagne recipes call for three or four cheeses and may contain 40 or more grams of fat per serving. That's as much fat as you should consume in an entire day. For this article, I wanted to figure out how to make lasagne using nondairy cheese substitutes and keep the amount of fat down. With less emphasis on the cheese, I needed to make sure that the lasagne was flavorful. Vegetable lasagnes can be watery and bland, and attempts to heighten the flavor often reintroduce fat.

Finally, I wanted to simplify the process as much as possible. Many lasagne recipes require a good half day in the kitchen. I'll never forget the time my friend Peggy called me crying because she was so tired from making a lasagne recipe from a famous Italian cookbook. It was six in the evening, she had been shopping, cooking, and cleaning pots since breakfast, and she didn't think she could stay awake for her own party that night. Just because lasagne involves little last-minute work doesn't mean it is easy to prepare.

What About the Cheese?

Can you make lasagne without dairy? Tofu can be crumbled to resemble ricotta in texture and seems like the logical vegan choice. But crumbled tofu turns lasagne into a watery, slippery mess. In addition, the flavor is not right. After several disastrous attempts at using different types of tofu, I concluded that lasagne needs cheese or a cheese substitute to act as a binder and bring the layers of pasta and sauce together into a cohesive casserole.

Throughout my testing, I experimented with various cheese alternatives made from soy or rice. Almost all brands contain casein, a milk protein that helps the cheese melt when heated. I was able to find only one brand that is casein-free and truly vegan, but it did not melt well and is not recommended in this recipe. Cheese alternatives made with casein look and melt like real cheese, although their flavor is not as rich.