Dairy-free Lasagna

Why make this recipe? It's lasagna so that is a ridiculous question. 

Recipe

6-8 Servings

1 lb beef
1 onion, chopped small
1 bell pepper, red or other color, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper to taste
1 14 oz can plain tomato sauce
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes + juice
10 oz gluten free or regular lasagna noodles if you eat wheat (no boil, oven ready)

optional additions: 1 tsp vegetable bouillon and 2 tsp soy sauce (to enhance umami/“meaty" flavor)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a large pan over medium high heat, add 2 tsp oil, and cook beef with 1/2 tsp salt. Separate the beef into small pieces as it cooks. Once the beef is cooked, set it aside in a bowl. Turn the heat down to medium and sauté the onion with 2 tsp olive oil for about 3 minutes, then add the bell pepper and garlic and sauté for about 3 more minutes or until soft. Add the meat back in with the rest of the ingredients (except for the noodles) and simmer for 5 minutes with a lid. (A lid is important so the liquid does not reduce because the noodles need enough “watery” liquid to absorb and cook in the oven. The leftovers will continue to absorb even more liquid after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Using an 8 x 8 pyrex baking dish, or your preferred cookware, scoop about 1/2 cup onto the bottom of baking dish and spread evenly. Then place a layer of noodles on top. Then pour about 1 cup of beef sauce over the noodles and spread it evenly with a spatula. Place another layer of noodles on top of beef sauce, followed by 1 cup of sauce. You will end up with 3-4 layers of noodles. Make sure that you reserve enough beef sauce to fully cover the last layer. It is best to go one layer short, rather than have too little sauce or else the noodles will not have enough liquid around them to fully cook. (If you only have a large dish, you can just make a thin lasagna with 2 layers of noodles, it will still taste good!)

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a fork can easily be pushed into the noodles. Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. 

Optional: Top with coconut yogurt, or this vegan cheese recipe (coming soon), but it is great as is.