Trust me when I say you’ve never had lasagna like this before. The first time I made this I was pleasantly surprised to realize it tastes just as good, if not 100 times better than the standard meat-filled version.
This vegan, gluten-free vegetable lasagna is made with a delicious almond ricotta “cheese” and these new lentil lasagna noodles by the company Explore Cuisine. Ever since I saw the noodles sitting on the shelf at the health-food store I knew I had to give it a shot.
The noodles provide so much flavour and texture to the lasagna, and they’re protein-packed so you don’t need to worry about skimping on your protein requirements for the day (not to mention the almond ricotta, also protein-packed). The way the lentil noodles taste almost remind me of meat itself, so that was an interesting surprise.
I hope you love this recipe! It would make the perfect holiday meal, or you could make it before-hand on your meal-prep night and freeze it into individual portions (it freezes and re-cooks very well!). It’s delicious on it’s own, but I always like some greens to go alongside something that is a little more heavy, so a salad would go perfectly!
If you try this recipe, let me know in the comment below!
Vegan, Gluten-Free Vegetable Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients:
Almond Ricotta:
– 2 cups raw whole almonds
– 1/4 cup plain, unsweetened, non-dairy yogurt
– 1 tsp. sea salt (or to taste)
– 1/2 cup filtered water (plus more as needed)
– optional: 2-3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
Sauce:
– 4 cups finely diced tomatoes
– 2 tbsp. tomato paste
– 1 tsp. coconut oil
– 1 small onion, finely chopped
– 2 garlic cloves, minced
– 1 tsp. sea salt
– 1 tsp. ground pepper
– 1 tbsp. dried oregano
– 2 tbsp. freshly chopped basil
– 2 cups finely sliced cremini mushrooms
– 1 cup zucchini, diced
– 1 cup diced red pepper
Other:
– Explore Cuisine Green Lentil Lasagna Noodles
– Follow Your Heart (or Earth Island – Canadian brand) Mozzarella Shreds
– 2-3 medium zucchini made into fine strips using a mandolin slicer (alternatively, you can cut length-wise with a knife, but be very careful!)
Method:
Almond Ricotta:
1. Soak the almonds overnight to loosen the skins. The skins should then easily peel off of the almonds.
2. Add peeled almonds to a food processor along with the yogurt, salt, water and nutritional yeast if you’re using. Blend at a low speed until the almonds turn into the fine grainy texture of ricotta. Add more water and blend as needed to reach the desired “ricotta” consistency.
3. You can adjust the salt and add other seasonings like dried oregano or Italian herbs.
Sauce:
1. In a heavy sauce pan, sauté the onion in oil for 1-2 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and herbs and stir into the onions and garlic, sautéing for another 2 minutes.
2. Next, add the tomatoes, sea salt, ground pepper, mushrooms, zucchini and red pepper. Simmer on low heat for 30-45 minutes.
Assembly & Cook Time:
1. In a large lasagna dish (I used a 9x13x2 inch pan), first put some tomato sauce, then the dried lentil noodles (I used 3 per layer), and then use the zucchini slices to cover the entire area and any holes that the noodles do not cover.
2. Next, put down the almond ricotta, and then follow it with more sauce, more lentil noodles, and zucchini strips.
3. Continue this process until you end with sauce at the top.
4. Cover with vegan mozzarella shreds and put in the oven at 400ºF for 45 minutes.
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