By Savy Sivapathasundaralingam
Vegan lasagna (GF)
8 steps
Prep:25minCook:1h
It even freezes well for months. You could assemble the lasagna, cover it, and keep it in the fridge overnight before baking the next day. You can also cook the lasagna, then wait for it to cool and keep it in the fridge overnight. Reheat and serve the next day.
Storage and reheating:
Leftover lasagna can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days in the dish or an airtight container. Reheat it on 180C oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese and sauce are bubbly again, or microwave until warm.
For freezing: Once the lasagna is assembled or finished baking, wait for it to cool, then cover it with a layer of plastic and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Or assemble the lasagna and freeze before baking. Before serving, thaw the lasagna overnight in the fridge.
No boil noodles or cooking noodles in advance can be fine. You could use a bit less marinara sauce and cut the cooking time down to 30-40 minutes.
Cover the casserole dish with a layer of foil and bake the lasagna for 1 hour.
Tips:
-Use a marinara sauce that you enjoy the flavor of, or make your own. "Nora cooks" has a spaghetti listed
-If the vegan ricotta isn’t as smooth as you like, blend in a splash of water at a time until it’s smooth and creamy.
Variations:
-You can replace the lentils for vegan ground beef. Just cook in a pan until browned then add to marinara
-Feel free to add even more veggies to the lasagna. Such as roasted zucchini, yellow squash, and red onion, butternut squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet potato and layer in the veggies at the same time as the spinach. Take into account they need to be cooked in advance.
-Red lentils can bee replaced by green or brown lentils, but it won't be as creamy and they will be more noticeable in the sauce.
Allergies:
-Can be gluten-free by replacing the noodles
-Cashew ricotta can be made nut free, see original recipe
Updated at: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:03:52 GMT
Nutrition balance score
Great
Glycemic Index
44
Low
Glycemic Load
35
High
Nutrition per serving
Calories564.4 kcal (28%)
Total Fat17.9 g (26%)
Carbs78.3 g (30%)
Sugars12.8 g (14%)
Protein26.7 g (53%)
Sodium1245.5 mg (62%)
Fiber9.7 g (35%)
% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet
Ingredients
8 servings
180gdried red lentils
1418gmarinara sauce
129graw cashews
454gfirm tofu
patted dry
22gnutritional yeast
3 tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
from about 2 lemons
1 teaspoonsalt
1 teaspoondried basil
1 teaspoonoregano
½ teaspoongarlic powder
60gbaby spinach
1 boxlasagna noodles
regular, gluten free or whole grain
Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
Step 1
Cook the red lentils. Add 1 cup dried red lentils and 3 cups of water to a medium pot. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain the lentils in a fine strainer, and then add back to the pot and stir in the marinara sauce. Set aside.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 180C degrees.
Step 3
Make the Cashew-Tofu Ricotta: Add the cashews to a food processor and process until fine and crumbly. Then add the tofu in chunks, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, basil, oregano and garlic powder to the food processor. Pulse until well combined and pretty smooth. If it's too thick, add a few tablespoons of water to blend. Set aside.
Step 4
Assembling the lasagna: Add about 1 cup of lentil marinara to the bottom of a large 9×13 inch casserole dish. Spread it around evenly. Next add 4-5 lasagna noodles (uncooked). Spread half of the ricotta on top of the noodles. Top with half of the spinach. Add about 1 cup of the marinara sauce over the spinach, then place 4-5 lasagna noodles on top. Spread the rest of the ricotta over the noodles, then the rest of the spinach. Place 4-5 more noodles on top of the spinach, and then pour the rest of the sauce over the top, evenly.
Step 5
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. If you are not adding vegan mozzeralla cheese you can let it in for an hour
Step 6
While the lasagna is cooking, make your Vegan Mozzarella Cheese, if using or use 2-3 cups store bought vegan mozzarella cheese. 1. Boil 2 cups of water Pour the water over the cashews and let soak for 5 minutes, up to an hour.
2.Drain the cashews, and add them to a blender along with 1 1/3 cups fresh water (not the water you soaked the cashews in), lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt and tapioca starch. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender as needed. It will be very watery at this point. 3.Now pour the watery mixture into a small saucepan and bring the heat to medium. Begin to stir with a spatula or spoon. 4.After a few minutes, it will begin to get clumpy. Keep stirring, constantly until suddenly it will become super gooey, stretchy, thick and smooth. Remove from heat after it becomes a big mass of stretchy vegan cheese, use immediately.
Step 7
After 40 minutes, remove the foil and spoon on the mozzarella (or sprinkle the cheese all over). Place the lasagna back in the oven and bake for 20 more minutes, uncovered. Remove from oven, let cool for at least 15 minutes this gives it time to firm up and set, which prevents the lasagna slices from falling apart and making a mess then serve
Step 8
Leftover lasagna will keep for about 4 days in the refrigerator. See notes for freezing instructions.
