This tasty lasagne caters for so many dietary preferences, from vegan to paleo and everything in between. With layers of creamy cashew ‘cheese’ and rich Neapolitan tomato sauces layered between roast vegetable ‘pasta sheets’, you’ll wonder what you ever saw in the traditional version. Perfect served with a crisp green salad.
what you need
1 large eggplant, sliced into rounds
1 large wedge of pumpkin, peeled and sliced thinly
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 capsicum, cut into quarters
4 Tbsp coconut or olive oil
1 large leek, white sliced only
1 stick celery, sliced
250 grams of mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
100ml red wine
2 tins of organic diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp mixed Italian herbs
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
for the cashew ‘cheese’ sauce:
250 grams cashews, soaked 7 hours
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
100 ml vegetable stock
150ml olive or macadamia nut oil
1 tsp sea salt
½ bunch fresh basil, leaves torn and stems discarded
what to do
Preheat oven to 200 °C.
In a large bowl, toss pumpkin, sweet potato and eggplant in 3 Tbsp of the coconut or olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Layer onto baking trays and roast approximately 40 minutes until cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside.
During the baking time, add the capsicum onto a baking tray skin side up. Roast for about 15 minutes or until the skin is charred and can be removed.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 Tbsp of oil in a large saucepan and sauté leek, celery, garlic, mushrooms and zucchini until soft. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, honey, salt, pepper, red wine and herbs.
Bring mixture to the boil then turn down to simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat.
Blend all ingredients for cashew sauce in a high speed blender then set aside.
Once the capsicum has slightly cooled, remove the skin and cut into strips.
To assemble, begin with a layer of tomato sauce followed by a layer of mixed roast veggies then finally a layer of cashew cheese sauce. Repeat until you have a total of 3 layers, finishing with the cashew sauce on top. Sprinkle with the yeast flakes.
Place in oven for 30 minutes until top layer is lightly browned.
notes
If you do not have red wine, a good balsamic vinegar is a great substitute.
A combination of different root vegetables work well as the ‘pasta’ layers. Depending in what’s in season, you can use celeriac, turnip, swede, carrots or beetroot (although this will change the colour slightly).
You can also add pasta sheets to this recipe. I have used Konjac noodle “lasagne” sheets and it has added another texture to dish.
For a slightly different flavour, substitute parsley for the basil in the cashew cheese.
recipe by Emma H for go natural foods
