Vegetable Lasagna

This lasagna is an absolute treat on a cozy Sunday. It's delicious, hearty and so easy to make. It will take a bit more time as it needs to first cook on the stove and then in the oven.

For this recipe, I used sweet potatoes, celery, zucchini, mushrooms and carrots as my base, but you're able to swap those out for your vegetables of choice. The creamy cashew, basil sauce acts as a bechamel replacer and is full of flavor! It perfectly binds all of the tastes together. Top it with breadcrumbs for extra texture, and you'll have yourself an incredibly delicious meal.

Total cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

Lasagna sheets

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 red chili

2 carrots

1 stick of celery

1 zucchini (courgette)

200g mushrooms

1 medium sized sweet potato

A few handfuls of baby spinach

3 tins of chopped tomatoes

100ml red wine

5 tbsp tomato puree

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

Salt/pepper

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (optional)

Sauce:

1 cup cashews (soaked)

100ml water (possibly extra for the right consistency)

Handful of basil

Juice 1/2 lime

1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

Salt/pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 350F

2. Start by chopping all the vegetables: onion, garlic, chili, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, celery and sweet potato.

3. To make the tomato sauce, start by adding a tbsp of olive oil to a large pot. Add the onion, garlic and red chili and let it cook for a few minutes.

4. Add in the rest of the vegetables: zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, sweet potato and celery.

5. Add in 100ml of red wine and the bay leaf. Let this cook for 2 minutes.

6. Add in the 3 tins of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, maple syrup and spices. Let this cook for around 30 minutes on a low heat so all of the flavors are brought out.

7. While this is cooking, you can make the creamy basil, cashew sauce which will be the bechamel sauce. To do this, you will need to add all the ingredients to a high speed blender. You can add more water if necessary in order to get the consistency you desire. Make sure the cashews are soaked before blending - ideally a few hours before, or you can let it soak in boiling water for 5 minutes.

8. Now it's time to stack it all together! Take out the bay leaf before you start layering.

9. In a lasagna tray or large baking dish, start by layering the tomato sauce first. Second will be a layer of baby spinach (just a handful - not too much). Next, will be a layer of lasagna sheets. Next, will be a layer of the cashew/basil "bechamel" sauce. Then you will continues stacking with the tomato sauce again, spinach, lasagna sheets and cashew/basil "bechamel" sauce.

10. Option to add breadcrumbs on top if you would like more of a crunch.

11. Place in the oven for 20 minutes and then it's good to go. Enjoy!