veggie lasagna
Low carb, gluten free, soy free. This veggie lasagna is is so flavorful and satisfying for a vegan alternative to a regular parmigiana or lasagna. Coming from me that was born and raised in Rome, Italy and it's traditional pasta dishes- you can trust that I would not do my origins a disservice. I love finding ways to mesh culture foods with plant-based meals and making it vegan and health friendly.
This dish is a comforting meal to have for dinner or to prep for following days, I think it tastes even better as a leftovers when the flavors have been sitting together. The cashew sauce recipe can be used as a base or topping for many meals as well- feel free to get creative an implement it! If you want to make the dish more "meaty", add some crushed walnuts between layers, or you can also use tofu/tempeh or mushrooms to mix with the red sauce and make that "ragu" meat style sauce.
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INGREDIENTS
3 zucchini – preferably thick!
1 large eggplant
1 ½ cup cashews – soak in water for 1-2 or more hours. Optional but highly recommended to soften for a perfect sauce.
3 heaping teaspoons nutritional yeast
Tomato sauce – organic, no added sugar tomato basil sauce
1 lemon squeezed
Pinch of black pepper
1 tsp pink salt
Dried oregano
Handful Basil leaves
DIRECTIONS
01. Pre heat the oven to 425 degrees
02. Prepare your cashew “cheese” sauce , this will act as the white/bechamel sauce used in lasagna and it is DELICIOUS!
03. In a blender place the cashews, ½ cup water, nutritional yeast, the juice of 1 lemon, sea salt, black pepper and basil. Blend on high speed until achieving a very smooth and fluffy consistency.
04. Rinse well and thinly slice the zucchini and eggplant.
05. In a baking sheet (I used 10x16 inch) start layering the ingredients. Place a layer of tomato sauce at the bottom to help avoid any sticking- then a layer of zucchini, red sauce, cashew sauce, eggplant rounds, red sauce, cashew sauce- and repeat x 2 or until you have run out of your veggies! The last layer should be a red sauce and cashew sauce. Sprinkle some dried oregano, nutritional yeast, and crushed up cashews if you have them left.
04. Bake for 45 minutes at 425 degrees.
05. Let cool for 10 minutes once ready. I served mine with arugula and a brown rice/quinoa blend. A perfect meal of veggies, healthy fats and whole grains.
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