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Tofu Lasagna

A vegetarian lasagna made with tofu, noodles, tomato sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 96 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Tofu Lasagna

Oven375°F
Time40 to 45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cook noodles in boiling water.

  2. Drain and crumble tofu.

  3. Brown onions and tofu.

Make the sauce

  1. Add tomato paste, water, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper.

  2. Simmer for 20 minutes.

  3. Add cottage cheese and mix well.

Assemble and bake

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

  2. In a 12x8-inch baking dish, layer noodles, sauce, and mozzarella slices, repeating until all are used.

  3. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

  4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

450Calories
38 gProtein
23 gFat
25 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Cottage Cheese1/2 cup (113g) 2%98
Mozzarella Cheese1 oz (28g)85
Tofu100g firm76
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Lasagnanot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cottage cheese + mozzarella cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together96 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,767 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tofu
Forms the firm, crumbly body of the filling in place of ground meat.
Tomato paste
Concentrates the tomato flavor and thickens the sauce.
Cottage cheese
Adds creamy moisture and body to the filling layers.
Mozzarella cheese
Melts into stretchy layers that bind the lasagna together.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savory flavor and browns on top in the oven.
Lasagna noodles
Provide the structural layers that hold the sauce and filling.

The step that matters

Brown onions and tofu. Browning the tofu in a little fat drives off surface moisture and develops savory flavor, so the filling does not turn watery or bland once baked.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tofu, tomato, garlic, oregano, pepper, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Eggplantfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tofu, tomato, garlic, oregano, pepper, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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