Traveling home from a visit with my family, I had the good fortune to sit on the plane next to Rylee. We were both busy reading books and watching our movies during the flight and it wasn’t until our descent home that we got to know each other a bit. She was a little emotional and sad as she had just visited her best friend and was missing her. I had just finished watching the recently (2022) released movie Elvis, and was thinking of my family (and, some of the challenging dynamics) and it made me a little sad too. I reached for some tissues and shared them with Rylee as well.
This sweet, precocious 9-year-old just opened up and shared with me about her best friend and how much she loves and misses her since they no longer live in the same city. Lucky for Rylee, her family makes regular visits! I listened and reminisced about my childhood best friend, Didi, and shared that we met when we were just 7 and are still the best of friends today, even though we live miles apart.
When Rylee told me that her friend is lactose intolerant, I replied, “Lucky her!”, this started our conversation about cheese and food. I shared my lasagne recipe and am posting it here for you. The first time I served this to my hubby, he did not believe me when I confessed it was vegan. This recipe is very forgiving, feel free to omit and add veggies that suit your tastes.
Thanks, Rylee for sharing your heart and bright spirit so freely. I hope your friend enjoys this lasagne. If you see this post, please be in touch and let me know some of her other favorites and I will do my best to accommodate. Pictured below are my best friend, Didi, and me when we were just about your age, in our homemade Halloween costumes. The world needs more people like you. Much Aloha!
Best Friend Lasagne
10-12
servings1
hour1
hour30
minutesVegan Lasagne Everyone Loves
Ingredients
Extra-virgin olive oil, 2 Tablespoons
1 small onion, diced
8 ounces mushrooms, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped* (optional)
1 carrot, finely diced
10 ounces of fresh or frozen spinach or kale (or, both)
8 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, drained from the oil they came in, optional yet highly recommended
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
24-32 ounces of your favorite marinara (homemade sauce is best)
4 – 7 ounces of your favorite pesto (we LOVE this brand)**
1 batch cashew ricotta, recipe below
10 ounces lasagne noodles
8 ounces macadamia nuts, grated in a food processor***
- Cashew Ricotta
1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight****
1/2 cup almond flour
2 Tablespoons water, or more if necessary
2 cloves garlic (or more, if you love garlic)
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons refined coconut oil*****
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
abundant love
Directions
- Prepare the cashew ricotta**** by blending all the ingredients in a high-powered vita mix or food processor, scraping down the sides, as needed. Set aside.
- On medium heat, warm a cast iron pan. Once warm, add the olive oil.
- Once the oil is heated, add the diced onion and saute for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add these vegetables: carrots, celery, bell pepper, and mushrooms, and the spices: basil and oregano. Saute everything together until softened but not overcooked (3-5 minutes). Next, add the sun-dried tomatoes and kale or frozen spinach to the pan long enough to warm up. Fresh spinach does not need to be warmed up at all, we will layer it in fresh.
- Now, it’s time to layer our lasagne. Before we start layering, we add about 1/2 cup of warm water to our marinara and mix well (true, don’t cringe, it works and does not impede the great taste). This provides a little more liquid since we are not precooking our noodles. Next, scoop a few spoonfuls of the marinara sauce to thinly layer the 9 x 13 lasagne pan.
- Cover the sauce with a row of lasagne noodles (dry, uncooked – yes), then layer half of the cashew ricotta and then half of the vegetables on the ricotta (if using fresh spinach, remember to top the cooked vegetables with the fresh spinach). Top the veggies with sauce to cover the layer and continue the same sequence: sauce, layer of noodles, the remaining cashew ricotta, and, the remaining vegetables. Cover the vegetable layer with sauce (and, optional pesto) and top with one last layer of lasagne noodles. Pour the remaining sauce to cover the noodles completely.
- Top the lasagne with Macadamia nut “parmesean”, cover the pan with foil and bake covered for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from the oven when done, cover with the foil again (to help keep it warm) and let is rest a few minutes before serving. Enjoy with your best friend(s)!
Notes
- * Celery seems like an odd addition to lasagne, I agree. We have made it with and without so the chef’s choice is to make it your own.
- ** Please be aware many store-bought pestos are not vegan. Be sure to read the label.
- *** Toss whole salted macadamia nuts into the food processor and mix until they are close in texture to parmesan cheese. This does not take long, a few quick “pulses” or, less than 30 seconds on blend. The photo below is a guide to the texture.
- **** Cashew ricotta can be made a day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Also, cashews can be soaked in boiling water for just 20 minutes instead of soaking overnight in cooler water.
- ***** Refined coconut oil removes the coconut taste from the oil. We often use unrefined coconut oil and don’t notice our lasagne tasting like a coconut! 🙂 So, if that’s what you have on hand, give it a try before making an extra trip to the store.
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