Today, my friends, I have a delicious vegan lasagna for you. Paired with a beautiful green salad of assorted leaves, spring onions, cucumber, capers and lemon vinaigrette dressing, it makes for a delightful and indulgent main course. One that not even an omnivore would turn her or his nose up at.
While a tray this size should certainly serve 8 people, Duncan and I managed to polish off half of it in one sitting. Well, Duncan did most of the work here, but still. It’s mightily more-ish and addictive. It’s not difficult to make, although, like any respectable lasagna, it does take a bit of time. The most time consuming component is making the sauce, but the good news is that once it’s all in the pot the sauce pretty much takes care of itself bar an occasional, loving stir. I went for a simple tomato sauce here, but if you want to bulk it up a little, feel free to add some cooked green lentils into the mix. You could even cook them in the sauce! As I am a big fan of aubergines (or eggplants) and they are still very much in season here, I’ve taken a leaf out of my moussaka book and substituted some of the pasta layers with meaty and succulent aubergine slices. If you are after a low-carb meal, feel free to do that for all of the five layers. Conversely, if you don’t like aubergines (what kind of person are you?? just kidding 😉 ), replacing aubergine slices with more pasta sheets works out just as well. The ‘piece de resistance’ of this recipe is a lush vegan bechamel sauce made without a touch of oil. It uses blended-until-creamy cashews thickened with a little bit of tapioca starch. It’s creamy, cheesy and delicious. Its creaminess contrasts beautifully with the layers of tangy tomato sauce underneath and gives the dish a touch of real indulgence while being far better for you than conventional lasagna topping. Win-win if you ask me 😉 !
egg-free (and GF if required) lasagna sheets (8-12 sheets)** 4 large aubergines / eggplants (enough for 2 layers) parsley to garnish
BECHAMEL (SEE NOTES)
300 g / 2 cups raw cashews (soaked overnight OR in boiling water for 1 hr) 1 large garlic clove 1 heaped tbsp white miso paste 4 tbsp nutritional yeast grated nutmeg, to taste ½ tsp salt, adjust to taste ¼ tsp white pepper, adjust to taste 2 tbsp tapioca starch
BECHAMEL ASSEMBLY
**Follow the instruction on the packet for your lasagna sheets. Sometimes they require pre-cooking or soaking in water. If you do not want to use cashews for whatever reason, you could also make a bechamel like the one in this recipe. You can make the sauce, prebake the aubergine / eggplant slices and blend the bechamel (thicken it with tapioca starch on the day) a day in advance.
