This completely plant-based, dairy-free take on the classic Italian lasagna will have your mouth watering thanks to its savory tomato and mushroom sauce, its creamy béchamel sauce, and the deliciously chewy lasagna sheets. Opt for gluten-free pasta if need be.
Ingredients
For the lasagna
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp red miso paste
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 onions
- 100 grams sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 tbsp oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes
- 3 carrots
- 3 celery sticks
- 1 sprig of rosemary plus more for garnish
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 garlic cloves
- 700 grams chestnut mushrooms
- 300 ml red wine
- 2 x 400 grams cans of plum tomatoes
- 800 ml water
- 500 grams dried lasagna sheets
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the béchamel
- 1 ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
- 125 ml olive oil
- 125 grams plain flour
- 1 ¼ litre unsweetened plant-based milk
To serve
- Make a side salad
Instructions
For the tomato sauce
- Peel and quarter the onions and blitz them in the food processor until finely chopped.
- Add the sun-dried tomato oil to one of your large saucepans on medium heat and saute the onions, stirring, for 5-6 minutes.
- As the onions cook, peel the carrots and pulse them in the food processor with the celery until minced. You can chop the carrots and celery into smaller chunks before adding them into the food processor.
- Peel and grate the garlic and add it to to the pan. Stir for a minute.
- Remove the leaves from the rosemary and thyme and finely chop.
- Add your carrots, celery, rosemary and thyme to the saucepan, reduce the heat slightly and saute. Stir occasionally for 12-15 minutes until cooked.
- As those ingredients cook, pulse the chestnut mushrooms in the food processor until finely minced.
- Add to the pan along with the drained sun-dried tomatoes. You can cut the sundried-tomatoes as you like.
- Stir, increase the heat slightly and saute again. Stir for 8-10 minutes.
- Add your red wine, allow the heat to increase for 5-6 minutes until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.
- Add the tomato puree, miso paste, balsamic vinegar, oregano, and soy sauce and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and water.
- Lower the heat back down to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
For the béchamel sauce
- While the vegetable ragu simmers, begin making the béchamel sauce.
- Put the second pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil.
- Add the flour and stir for 3-5 minutes.
- Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly.
- Add the nutritional yeast and stir until smooth.
- Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer until the béchamel thickens to the consistency of custard.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Layering the lasagna
- Spread a quarter of the ragu into the lasagna dish.
- Spoon over a quarter of the béchamel sauce.
- Cover with lasagna sheets, breaking them if necessary to make a complete layer with no gaps.
- Repeat three times, reserving some béchamel to cover the top completely.
- Garnish with a few rosemary leaves.
- Cover with foil and put on the lowest shelf of the oven.
- Bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes.
- Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving with a side salad.
- The leftovers will taste amazing the next day – simply bring back to piping hot in the oven or microwave.