This vegan lasagna with layers of lasagna noodles, mushrooms, broccoli and a super creamy and cheesy vegan sauce is the perfect meal when you are craving comfort food but still, want to keep it healthy.
Ingredients
For the lasagna
5 cups chopped broccoli (400g)
5 cups washed and chopped mushrooms (350g)
1 heaping cup (100g) chopped leek
No-boil lasagna noodles (I used 3 noddles on each layer and a total of 12, but this will depend on how big or small you lasagna noodles are).
3/4 cup (180ml) tomato sauce
Salt and onion powder
For the cheesy sauce
3 small potatoes, peeled and chopped (185g once peeled)
1/2 cup (120ml) of the cooking water (from cooking the potatoes).
1/2 cup (70g) cashews
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup (120ml) soy milk (use almond milk for a soy-free version).
2 tablespoons mustard
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoons onion powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt (I recommend using kala namak)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Notes:
You will also need a 25x18x6 cm baking dish.
Instructions
Add the chopped mushrooms and broccoli to a pan and sautée, adding a bit of water if necessary, until the mushrooms have reduced in size and the broccoli is tender.
Transfer the vegetable mixture to a food processor and add a pinch of salt and onion powder. Then pulse a couple of time (check the pictures in this post). We don´t want mashed broccoli and mushrooms! (Since my food processor is not very big, I divided the mixture and made 3 batches, in order to avoid the bottom of the mixture to became overly blended).
To prepare the cheesy sauce, start by boiling the potatoes. Place them in a sauce pan and cover with water (around 1 cup to 1 and 1/2 cups), then bring to a boil. Once the potatoes are tender, remove from the stove.
Add the cooked potatoes, 1/2 cup of the cooking water, cashews, nutritional yeast, soy milk (or almond milk), mustard, garlic, onion powder, salt and smoked paprika into a blender jar. Then, blend until smooth.
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
To build the lasagna, take a look at the graphic on the post to see the exact order of the layers. Start by pouring about 1/2 cup tomato sauce into a 25x18x6 cm (or similar) baking dish and line with no-boil lasagna noodles (I used three on each layer). Then add 1/3 of the vegetable mixture. Cover with cheesy sauce (1/2 cup approximately). Add another layer of noddles, then vegetables and then another 1/2 cup of cheesy sauce. Do this last step one more time. Finally, line with the last layer of lasagna noodles and cover with the rest of the tomato sauce and cheesy sauce. Mix and spread both sauces using a spoon.
Bake for 30 minutes at 180ºC (middle rack of the oven).
Remove from the over and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
If you like spicy food, add a bit of tabasco to the tomato sauce.
Store the left-overs in an air-tight container and in the fridge for up to 3 days.
CoursesMains
Cuisinelow-fat, soy-free
Recipe by The Bright Bird at https://www.thebrightbird.com/vegan-lasagna/