Plant Based Lasagna
You need to try this delicious, plant based lasagna! This vegan gluten free lasagna is a great way to get your daily dose of vegetables.
Ingredients
For the Sauce & Zoodles
- 1 cup yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 8-10 button mushrooms washed and dried
- 2 carrots washed and diced
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup dried red lentils rinsed and drained
- 1-2 zucchini sliced into 1/4" strips using a mandolin or sharp knife
- 1-2 small eggplants peeled and sliced into 1/4" strings using a mandoline or sharp knife
- Fresh torn basil
For the Cashew Cream
- 1 cup cashews or cashew pieces soaked in hot water
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- pinch of table salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the cashews in a medium-sized glass bowl. Boil 2 cups water and pour over the cashews. Set aside for at least 30 minutes while you slice the zucchini & eggplant and make the tomato sauce.
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan or deep-sided skillet. When shimmering, add the onions and sauté on medium-low heat until starting to turn golden brown. Add the garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper and sauté 1-2 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium and add the tomato paste. Continue cooking until the tomato paste is fragrant and turns a dark red.
- Add the carrots and button mushrooms and stir to coat.
- Add the diced tomatoes and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the red lentils and lemon juice, stir and remove from heat.
- Using a mandolin (or a sharp knife), thin slice the zucchini lengthwise into ¼” strips. Place the strips on a clean towel (or paper towels) and sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Allow to rest for 15 minutes, then pat dry.
- In a blender, combine the soaked cashews (drained from soaking water and rinsed) with water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic and salt. Blend until creamy.
- Add a thick layer of the homemade tomato sauce with lentils to the bottom of a casserole dish. Then add a layers of sliced zucchini and eggplant. Finish with a later of cashew cream. Then repeat the process two more times.
- Bake the plant based lasagna for 30 minutes (covered) at 350 degrees. Then bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Top with fresh basil and vegan parmesan.
Notes
- Just a note on soaking cashews: many recipes will call for soaking your cashews for 3+ hours. And while I'm a huge fan of soaking nuts to make vegan cheese for the recommended time, cashews are a pretty forgiving nut. To make this process quicker, soak cashew pieces in just boiled water for 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the dish. Don't worry, your cashew cream will be creamy!!
- Don't skip sprinkling your zucchini and eggplant with salt and allowing it to rest. You'll be amazed by how much moisture it sheds. That's a lot less water swimming in the bottom of your vegan lasagna pan!
- If you watched my video, you might notice that I substituted sauteed porcini mushrooms for button mushrooms. I just happened to have them on hand and they're so delicious! Don't be afraid to swap ingredients around to avoid food waste!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!