Traditionally at Christmas my family will make a big pan of lasagna for dinner. The thought behind it is that it is a day for the family to spend together and it is really hard to do that when you are trying to cook a turkey or ham and all of the fixings. This tradition has been great until this year when I found that I am allergic to the most delicious part of lasagna! In June I got really sick and after a visit to the allergist we found out that I am allergic to dairy. Really sucks when you like ice cream, cheese, yogurt, chocolate milk. Not wanting my family to miss out on our yearly tradition I did some research for tofu ricotta recipes and once I found one that I liked I went to work on changing it to where I would love it! Happy to report that below is the recipe that I came up with and we still got to celebrate our tradition albeit with 2 different pans of lasagna. Happy New Year!

adapted from recipe for Basil-Tofu Ricotta found on food.com

Serves 6

• 1 pound firm tofu, pressed
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sea salt
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon freeze dried basil
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup Parma Vegan Parmesan Cheese

1. In a large bowl, mash tofu with your hands until crumbly.
2. Ad lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Mash with hands until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese.
3. Add olive oil and stir with fork.
4. Add Parma and mix all ingredients well with a fork.
5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Use just like real ricotta cheese.