Veganomicon ricotta

I finally got it right. The baking stone I ordered from Cooking.com arrived, and I was anxious to christen it with a pizza, so I used the V'con recipe for 'Isa Pizza'. This is wonderous, yeast-risen stuff, to which I added a handful of fresh herbs: sage, basil, chives), topping it with scads of slow-carmelized onions (nearly an hour!), lots of garlic, my chipotle-mayo base, heirloom tomatoes, and for the first time, the ricotta recipe from the same cookbook.

Starting from a base of pressed, mushed-up tofu, lots of good things are added, including more garlic (never enough!), fresh basil, and lemon juice - the result is a light, bland mixture that still misses by just a hair what it might be, if eaten alone. However, when added in small lumps to a pizza with lots of other stuff going on, the blandness works very well, adding a sort of unctuous savory (hey, I don't know how else to describe it!)

Having some leftover (about a cup), last night I used it up and was pretty pleased with the results. I blended it with leftover cooked collards (which had a bit of quinoa, so this is a very healthy mix!), then rolled the mixture up in filo. Baked (at 350F for about 20 minutes) and topped with a light and spicy tomato sauce, these were really wonderful! The sauce:

1 large onion, cut in chunks and chopped very fine
1 T olive oil
3 or 4 l. garlic cloves, chopped very fine
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
10 large basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp or more oregano
1 tsp (or to taste) hot pepper flakes
2 tsp lemon juice

Heat onion in olive oil, stirring whenever you think of it, for longer than you think it should take to get it sweet and lightly browned, cooking off nearly all the liquid.

Add garlic, sautee for longer (lower heat and pay attention here - garlic turns bitter, fast.

Add all other ingredients except lemon juice; simmer on low heat for at least 1/2 hour.

Before serving, stir in lemon juice.