The very best lasagna ever

I'm not going to lie- this lasagna was hard work. Luckily, my good buddy Christian helped! Both of our spouses had to work on a Saturday, so we decided they would enjoy a good home cooked meal when they got home. It was also a good excuse to get the dogs together in the backyard for a couple hours while we cooked!

• 10 tomatoes, peeled (the easiest way to peel tomatoes is to cut out the stem and put them in boiling water for 30 seconds- 1 minute. Then dunk them in ice water so you can handle them- the peel should come right off!)
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• fresh basil, thyme, and oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• mushrooms
• red pepper
• whatever veggies you want to add
• cooked lasagna noodles- enough to make 3 layers in your casserole dish. I think we used about 12
• Vegan mozzarella cheese (we used a package and a half of Daiya cheese)
  

Sauce: This was the part that took the longest. We wanted to make a sauce from scratch- and man, it was totally worth it!

1. Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil until they are soft and a little brown.
2. Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce down while you are peeling the tomatoes
3. Put the peeled tomatoes in a bowl. Use a potato masher to mash the tomatoes a little- there can still be big chunks- we're going to blend it all together in a bit
4. Add the tomatoes and fresh herbs to the saute. At this point you want to let it all reduce together for as long as you have- we let it all boil together for about 2 hours- it made the house smell AMAZING.
5. After the sauce has boiled for as long as you want it, use an immersion blender to blend everything so it's smooth- its fine if there are some chunks.
6. Add the mushrooms, peppers, and whatever veggies you want to add. Sauce is done and delicious
   

PUTTING THE LASAGNA TOGETHER

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Put one layer of sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish
3. cover this layer with noodles
4. Add another layer of sauce, followed by a layer of cheese, and then a layer of noodles.
5. Repeat. End with a layer of sauce covered in a layer of cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes more. Top with remaining fresh herbs right before serving. ENJOY!