In general, people look for the best recipes of anything: the best chocolate chip cookies, the best meatloaf, the best banana bread (these are the top suggestions I got from Google search). Here I’m aiming for the simplest, in this case, the simplest lasagna recipe, one that has a short utensil and ingredients list, preferably using fresh or minimally processed ingredients, a swift preparation, and a quick cooking time. Did I mention it is plant-based too?

Going back to its origins

According to a few online sources, there’s a theory that says that the first concept of lasagna was in fact Greek. The Greeks established themselves in Naples in the 2nd millennium BC and, unsurprisingly, it’s exactly from Naples that traditionally lasagna recipes come from (many centuries after the Greek settlement of course). And although I didn’t know this before playing around with the name of this recipe, Lasagna Margherita - borrowing from another Neapolitan classic, the Pizza Margherita - sounds even more appropriate now.

Pizza Margherita is the simplest of pizzas: pizza dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil leaves. Switch the pizza dough to lasagna sheets, ed eccola, una lasagna Margherita!!

Compromise is everywhere

As I’ve mentioned, I aimed for simplicity but also for minimally processed and plant-based ingredients. It took me a few tests to get to what I think is a good compromise between all my variables:

I played around with the sauce using store-bought tomato paste and purée but I have to say that my favorite sauce turned out to be the red onion and fresh tomato only
I also played around with the number of lasagna sheets and found that the perfect amount is between 6-8 sheets (remember that pasta absorbs liquid and expands)
I don’t have easy access to plant-based mozzarella (plus it’s an extra package right?) so I decided to use a preparation of tapioca flour, nutritional yeast and almond milk to “cheese” the lasagna instead; this turned out to be the biggest challenge because I wanted to make everything in just one pan and the tapioca preparation needs to be solid prior to being added to the lasagna otherwise it won’t “behave” like cheese; in the end I had to break the recipe into two steps (using the same skillet of course!): the “cheese” and the lasagna
Still on the “cheese”, almond milk was my favorite (I tried oat milk too)
And lastly, I prefer using a cast iron skillet for this but any oven suitable skillet works (I tried with an Ikea non-stick one and it worked as well); just make sure it’s around 20 cm diameter.

I still have some suggestions for you to try if you want:

adding more vegetables like carrots, celery, mushrooms to your sauce will make it richer but it will also make your ingredients’ list longer
if you have a store-bought tomato sauce that you really like, use it instead of the one I’m suggesting in this recipe, it will surely shorten the preparation and cooking time
and if you want to use a store-bought plant-based or buffalo mozzarella, by all means do it, this way you can skip the tapioca preparation and have your lasagna ready even faster!

Lasagna Margherita

Olive oil for brushing the cast iron skillet + 1 tbsp for the sauce
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
30g tapioca flour (1/4 cup)
250ml almond milk (1 cup)
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
500g tomatoes (about 4-5), chopped
375-500ml water (1.5-2 cups)
Salt, dried oregano, grated nutmeg and black pepper to taste
110-140g lasagna (6-8 sheets)
Fresh basil leaves to serve

Pre-heat the oven's grill to the maximum. Brush the bottom and sides of a cast iron skillet with some olive oil and place it over medium heat. In a small bowl mix the nutritional yeast, the tapioca and the almond milk. Season lightly with salt, pour it in the skillet and stir constantly with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula while it thickens. If it gets too lumpy remove from heat and stir until it's smooth. Once it reaches a spreadable consistency, remove from the heat and turn it back to the bowl while you prepare the rest of the lasagna. Quickly clean the cast iron skillet with a piece of kitchen paper and heat 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the onion and stir fry over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and do the same. Add the water and season with salt, dried oregano, grated nutmeg and black pepper. Bring the sauce to the boil. Break the lasagna sheets in half and place them in the sauce, gently pressing to make sure the sauce covers them. Use the last two sheets whole, on top, and spread the tapioca preparation over. Place in the oven for 10-12min or until the edges start to get slightly burned. Scatter some fresh basil leaves on top before serving.

Serves 2-3