Vegan Lasagna with Basil Cashew Cheeze

Today's recipe comes to us from vegan icon Angela Liddon, author of "Oh She Glows", in my opinion the best series of vegan cookbooks ever!

If there is one question I get asked most often as a vegan blogger, it is...."What's the best vegan lasagna?" So, I have finally decided to post what I believe is the BEST vegan lasagna recipe. It uses homemade vegan cheese (which is WAAAAY easier to make than I initially thought), and simply highlights the veggies included.

Give this a try....my kids' ratings say it all - everyone will love this!

Ingredients:

Cheese:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 30 min or overnight

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups basil leaves

1/2 cup nutritional yeast (I leave this out because I don't like the taste, but if you are into it, go for it!)

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

Lasagna:

1 box lasagna noodles

1 1/2 jars pasta sauce

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 onion, chopped

2 small zucchini, chopped

1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 large red pepper, chopped

1 large handful of spinach

Vegan cheese (as much as desired)

Instructions:

Drain and rinse soaked cashews.

In your blender or a food processor, pulse soaked cashews until chopped. Add the other ingredients for the vegan cheese.

Process or blend until smooth.

Set your oven for 400 degrees.

Chop all your veggies!

Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet and add onions and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes.

Add other veggies and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add Herbamare seasoning or other spices as desired.

While the veggies are cooking, boil water and get your lasagna noodles cooking! (Cook based on package directions - approx. 8 min).

Place about 1 cup of pasta sauce in the bottom of the baking pan. Cover with one layer of cooked noodles.

Next, spread with about half of the cashew basil cheese.

Add about half of the cooked vegetables.

Add pasta sauce.

Add another layer of noodles, the other half of the cashew basil cheese, the rest of the vegetables and more sauce. At this point, the recipe suggests you just add some vegan cheese and start baking. I added another layer of noodles, some more sauce and sprinkled it with vegan cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and broil a few minutes to brown the top (watch this closely - it can burn easily!)

Simplicity: ⭐⭐⭐ It is close to a four-star rating, but the need to remember to soak the cashews, and the possibility of needing to plan for some of the ingredients makes me give it three stars here.

Carnivore rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kid rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Mom, can I have that for lunch tomorrow?"

This is a truly wonderful lasagna, rivaling the dairy-filled alternatives. There are many delicious flavors that come from the vegetables (room for experimentation) and the homemade vegan cheese is beginner-friendly and delicious!.

Finally, vegans make no sacrifices on lasagna night!

Enjoy!