We’ve promised to continue on our vegan lifestyle exploration. We would like to share our absolutely stunning recipe for vegan lasagna (vegetarian lasagna too). This vegan recipe has been tested and it really delicious!
This vegan recipe is formed of 4 different preparations. Don’t worry, everything is very simple, but you will need to assemble it afterwards.
1. Lasagna sheets (the best you can buy, wholewheat, gluten-free if you require etc) & Aubergine layers
2. Rich in Protein Tomato Sauce
3. Green Cheesy Sauce
4. Salty Cashew Cream
Let’s describe how to make each one of the steps and then simply outline how to assemble this vegan recipe and how long to bake for. This is going ti be an amazing vegan lasagna – promise. The real deal vegan lasagna!
Lasagna sheets and Aubergine layers
Whilst we do not teach you how to make lasagna (as ou normal pasta) sheets yourself, you can simply buy it for this vegan recipe. With the aubergine layers it is not that simple. You will need to cut aubergines to form 0.5 cm slices. Leave them to leave some water by covering them with some salt for 30 mins. Fry them in batches to have a good amount of aubergine slices to form 2 layers (1 if you do not like that much of aubergine as I do).
Rich in Protein Tomato SauceWhat makes it rich in protein – lentils, what makes it richer than usual – sweet potato, the rest is you normal tomato sauce with garlic and basil!
To make about over a liter of sauce you will need:
4 cans (400g each) of chopped tomatoes (organic of course, please please)
1 large sweet potato diced
150 g of red lentils (rinse it before use)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
olive oil
300ml of water (maybe a bit more if it reduces to be too thick)
Simply fry your minced garlic with salt in olive oil, add basil, oregano, sweet potato and lentils for just a minute to absorb some of that fragrant oil flavours. Add water and simmer for 20 minutes, so your potato and lentils are soft. Add chopped tomatoes and simmer for additional 15 minutes to make it all soft and integrated.
This will make chunky sauce, if you like it very smooth – simply blitz it in the blender.
You are probably wondering what are we going to do instead of an indulgent creamy mozzarella and then parmesan? Do not worry – we have got 2 very creamy vegan sauces for you to prepare.
Salted Cashew Cream
You will need:
- 500 g raw cashews (preferably soaked in water for as long as you can think of – overnight will be grand, but even 1 hour will make a difference)
- 250 g water (do not add it if you have soaked your cashes in that amount of water)
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 tsp tamari or light soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt (more if you want it more salty)
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
No more instructions rather than blitzing everything together to a very creamy consistency!
Green Cheesy Sauce
If you were using ricotta in your regular lasagna, this is going to blow your mind how creamy this sauce will taste like and there is no dairy products in sight in this vegan recipe!
You will need:
250 g cashews
200 g tofu (we are using 1 packet of organic silken tofu, but just think how creamy you would want it to be, you can go up to 400 g if you wanted; you can also opt for thicker types of tofu, will also add creaminess!)
2 handfuls of baby spinach
half a handful of fresh basil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1tsp tamari or light soy sauce
2 tsp yeast
up to 100 ml cashew milk
Start with pulsing cashews with spice and herbs, when smooth simply add tofu and spinach to create a paste. If it is too solid, add some cashew milk so the consistency is thicker than double cream but not too solid.
Get all parts together for your vegan lasagna!
Now it is important to assemble this all together, layer by layer and then put an extra of the cheesy sauce on top, simply bake it in the oven for 20 minutes or more if you feel your topping needs more of crisping up! We needed to do 25 for quite crispy top for this vegan recipe.
Some remarks (always try your dish when you are cooking it!):
– if your veggies were just a bit watery, reduce your sauce just bit longer, say, 25 mins instead of 15-20
– if your end product – vegan lasagna – is a bit watery, simply cook for an extra 5 minutes uncovered; you need to make sure your veggies are cooked through but your pasta sheets are quire al-dente; if it is not the case and your pasta is overcooked, it will all turn into a big mush… nobody wants that! Be brave and enjoy a delicious vegan lasagna from scratch!
P.S. We’ve felt so light and satisfied after a portion of this vegan lasagna. This vegan recipe is a lighter meal that will go down as a treat, no doubts about that! If you feel inspired too, we recommend checking out a wonderfully managed Kind Healthy Lifestyle website to discover even more reasons to go plant-based and for more vegan recipes. Start your own vegan challenge with them, we are over 30 days fully vegan and cannot be happier.
Consider buying vegan wines, they offer wealth of flavour and are totally allergen free, gorgeous match for a vegan lasagna!
