I have a love hate relationship with lasagna. I love my lasagna, but I usually hate other people’s. It might sound a little self important, but I’ve had WAY to many potluck/cafeteria/freezer lasagnas. Since restaurant versions usually have meat, I really haven’t experienced a lot of those, although Old Spaghetti Factory has a pretty good veggie one, FYI.
Typically, my problem is that they’re too dry. People buy one jar of sauce and think that’ll do it. Well I don’t think it does. Also, a lot of people just slap ricotta on each layer, not bothering to season it and using too much. Ricotta can be great, but the store bought stuff usually isn’t very flavorful. And then there are the overcooked noodles. Don’t get be started on that.
My basic formula for lasagna is simple: Don’t be stingy. Use plenty of sauce, plenty of cheese, plenty of veggies and if you so desire, plenty of veggie burger. Lasagna doesn’t demand meat, or fake meat for that matter. It can be so good with a colorful assortment of vegetables. It’s great in the winter when a lot of the summer vegetables you’re craving aren’t quite as flavorful and need a little help, but it’s also great in the summer when you realize that your eyes were bigger than your fridge at the farmers market (or your garden is being productive!). You can really load it up. Lasagna noodles are thick and sturdy for a reason.
I’ve done all sorts of combinations of sauce and fillings. I LOVE making lasagna with alfredo sauce and whenever I do a vegan one, I use lots of vegan pesto, but this time, I did a classic lasagna; red sauce, 
Italian cheeses, a few simple veggies and a new faux burger.
If you haven’t tried any Quorn products yet, you should! Their chicken-esque products are super yummy (in my humble opinion), but this was my first time trying the Beef-Style Grounds. Before I tell you what those were like, let me give you a little Quorn background.
Although Quorn products seem to be just catching on here in the states, they’ve been selling in Europe since 1985 and according to their website, they’re “the #1 retail brand of meat-free foods in the world!” They also claim to be the best selling, frozen meat-free brand in natural food stores in the U.S. That seems sketchy to me, purely based on the availability of MorningStar Farms products, but I guess they’re talking about natural food stores 
and not regular supermarkets, so who knows.
Unlike the name might suggest, Quorn products are in no way made with corn. Their website states that:
“The principal ingredient in all Quorn products is mycoprotein (“myco” is Greek for “fungi”). The mycoprotein comes from Fusarium venenatum, which was originally discovered growing in a field in Buckinghamshire, England. In the late 1960s, initial product development began, and mycoprotein’s potential as an efficient and nutritious protein source was soon recognized.”
If you take a look at their website (quorn.us), there is a LOT of mycoprotein propoganda on there. I’m guessing this is because it’s caused some controversy when it first showed up on the American market (Bet you didn’t know my blog could be so edgy!). Some entities, like Garden Burger, The American Mushroom Institute (year, seriously), and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, were cranky about the fact that the Quorn was saying their products were made from mushrooms. While they do us fungus, it’s not mushrooms. Also, they were using battery eggs (eggs hatched by chickens in a teeny cage, leading an unhappy life), which the Vegetarian Society did not approve of. Eventually, they phased out the use of battery eggs and stopped saying their products were made with mushrooms so people quieted down. You can check out Quorn’s Wikipedia entry for the full story.
So now I bet you’re all dying to try some! It’s understandable if eating a weird fungus sketches you out, but just for the record, I like it. The texture of their products are top notch, Beef-Style Grounds included. The flavor was much more mild (read: not as salty) as, oh… MorningStar Griller Crumbles. I think this is good, since you don’t have to worry about the overload of sodium and you can flavor it however you want. I didn’t do anything to it for the lasagna except sauté it with some onion.
On the nutrition side, they’re low in fat (zero trans fats), low in calories, fairly low in carbs, have a reasonable amount of sodium (only 170mg, compared to 230mg in the MorningStar version), five grams of fiber, 13 grams of protein and only three ingredients. Hopefully we don’t find out 20 years from now that mycoprotein causes cancer or something…
Anyhow, these beefy grounds would be great for taco’s, chili, burgers, etc. And like I said, they were great in the lasanga!
Red Lasagna with Quorn Beef-Style Grounds
Serves 8
1 pkg dried lasagna noodles
olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
1 pkg Quorn Beef-Style Grounds
5 c tomato sauce (about a jar and a half)
3 c cheese (I used mozzarella and parmesan)
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 summer squash, thinly sliced
Prepare noodles according to package instructions. Be careful not to overcook! When they’re ready, run them under cold water and then lay them out on a plate to pre
vent sticking.
Heat some olive oil in a large pan and sauté burger and onion over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes.
In another pan, sauté zucchini, squash and garlic in a little olive oil for about 3-5 minutes.
Set up your work area and begin! Put some sauce on the bottom of and 8x11 casserole dish. Lay out three to four noodles on top of sauce. Put spread some more sauce on top of noodles. Layer about 1/3-1/2 of the zucchini-squash mixture on top of that. Cover with cheese and then top it off with another layer of noodles. Repeat once or twice depending on how many noodles you have and how deep your casserole dish is.
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
After 40 minutes, remove from oven and set oven to high broil. Sprinkle cheese over top and return to oven for 5 minutes. Let set 5-10 minutes before serving.
Tips: If you’ve made a pretty tall lasagna, you may want to stick a pan in the oven on the rack below to catch any sauce that might bubble over. And experiment with lots of different veggies and fillings!
