Lasagna w/ Basil Cashew Cheeze (Vegan)

 

So I had this all ready to go in the oven and was so excited about it, only to discover that my boyfriend's oven was suddenly broken and not heating up!  So we went with plan B for that night but went to my place a few nights later to bake and enjoy this lasagna.  It was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.  This is another recipe I found on Oh She Glows (have I mentioned I'm obsessed with that blog?!).  The cheeze sauce is made of a raw cashews base, with lots of fresh basil and nutritional yeast.  It was so creamy and good, I had to stop myself from eating all the sauce before making the lasagna!  WOW... so good :)

 

 

Ingredients

 

Lemon Basil Cashew Cheeze Sauce

 

Makes 1 cup 

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 30 mins or overnight (I found these at Whole Foods)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water (or more as needed)
• 1.5 cups fresh basil leaves (lightly packed)
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (gives the cheese flavor)
• 3/4-1 tsp sea salt (or to taste) + freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Lasagna

• 454 g Box of whole wheat lasagna noodles (I didn't use the whole box, but depends on size of your dish)
• 1.5 bottles of pasta sauce or use homemade marinara sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sweet onion, chopped (2.5 cups)
• 2 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 2 pre-cooked veggie burgers (Amy's California brand), crumbled (optional, I didn't add this)
• Lemon Basil Cashew Cheeze Sauce (from above)
• Daiya vegan cheese (as much as desired, I used Cheddar flavor)

 

Instructions

Lemon Basil Cashew Cheeze Sauce

1. Drain and rinse soaked cashews.
2. With the food processor turned on, drop in your garlic cloves and process until chopped.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large skillet, sautee onion and garlic over low-medium heat for 5 minutes. Now add in the rest of the veggies and sautee for another 10-15 minutes. Season well with sea salt and black pepper. This is key or you will have bland tasting vegetables in your lasagna.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook lasagna noodles al dente, drain, and rinse immediately with cold water.
4. Add 1 cup of pasta sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish. Add a layer of noodles, half the basil cheeze sauce, half the vegetables, more pasta sauce, another layer of noodles, veggie burger crumbles (optional), the rest of the cheeze sauce, the rest of the vegetables, more pasta sauce, and finally a sprinkle of cheese.
5. Cover with tinfoil and prick with fork a few times. Bake at 400F for 40-45 minutes and then remove tinfoil and broil for 5 minutes on medium. Watch closely so you don’t burn the edges.
6. Remove and serve. Will keep in the fridge for at least 3-4 days.