Spaghetti Pie

My best friend's mom used to make this for me every year for my birthday.  Think, the best lasagna you've ever had but without all those awkward-to-cook/awkward-to-eat lasagna noodles.  The original recipe used browned hamburg, but I've replaced that with shrooms and onions.  By all means, use some faux meat crumbles if you like, but I prefer it as is.  I find the veganized version to be as addicting as the original.  My daughters love it too, and my husband says he could eat the whole pan.  So, I guess it's not just me. 

10 oz button mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
8 oz brown rice spaghetti noodles (or spag of choice)
1 jar (2-1/2 cups) organic spaghetti sauce
1 jar-ful of water
2 bay leaves
14 oz organic firm tofu
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 cup nutritional yeast
1-1/2 cups Daiya mozzarella shreds (estimated amount....due to 9-yr-old running off with hand- and mouthfuls, with a muffled "I do LOVE THIS CHEESE!")


In large saute pan, cook shrooms and onions until translucent and tender. 

Add spaghetti sauce and bay leaves to the pan.  Fill the sauce jar with water, cover, shake (to get all the sauce), and add.  Bring the sauce to a boil, and add the spaghetti noodles.  Simmer until tender (bendy) but not fully cooked. 

Meanwhile in food processor, blend the tofu, spices, and nooch until smooth and ricotta-ish.

Preheat oven to 350.

Spoon half the spaghetti mixture into a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish (I leave the bay leaves right in to bake...yeah, I have a fetish).  Top with tofu mixture and a sprinkling of mozzarella shreds. 

Top with the other half of spaghetti mixture and more shreds. 

Bake, covered (if using foil, tent it so it doesn't stick to the melty shreds), for 30 minutes.  Uncover, and bake another 5-10 minutes.

 

Let rest before cutting, or it'll look like this instead of the pretty picture at the very top (but oh...so delicious):

...and be sure to warn those at your table of the potential of bay leaves.