CREAMY SQUASH LASAGNA WITH SAGE, SPINACH AND BEANS. Vegan + Gluten Free
This Creamy Squash and Spinach Lasagna recipe is vegan, gluten-free, and perfect for the Fall and Winter season. This recipe uses a cashew cheese sauce to make it incredibly creamy. It also marries the flavours of squash, sage and spinach… a trio that was made for each other. It also has plant-based protein from the can of cannellini beans I decided to add last minute.
Like any lasagna, this baby requires a little prep and time in the kitchen to make all the magic come together. I roasted a kabocha squash earlier in the afternoon so when it was time to get cooking, I was ready:)
You could use regular noddles but I experimented and used lentil pasta lasagna noodles. They worked like a charm and would highly recommend playing with different gluten-free options.
WHAT YOU NEED
- 1 squash (I used kabocha but a butternut would work perfectly)
- 1 large sweet onion or yellow onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 5 cups of spinach
- 1 can of cannellini beans
- 1 box of gluten free lasagna noodles
- 1 1/2 cups of raw cashews (soaked is best but not mandatory)
- 3/4 cups of nutritional yeast
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup of almond milk (or any milk would do)
- 1/2 cup of fresh chopped sage or 1 tbsp of dried sage
WHAT TO DO
- Start by chopping your squash and getting it into the oven to bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until tender. I seasoned it with a little salt, pepper and olive oil.
- Once the squash is baked you can set it aside and allow it to cool.
- In a large pot, get your water boiling to cook the lasagna noodles.
- Chop onion, add to a pan and sauté in a little olive oil over medium heat until the onion is soft and fragrant. Add 3 cloves of crushed garlic and sage then sauté for another minute.
- Boil your noodles until almost completely cooked. MAKE SURE TO NOT OVERCOOK! You don’t want them to be mushy or hard to deal with:)
- To make the cashew cheese sauce, in a high-speed blender, blend cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast and vegetable broth. You want the mixture to be thick and creamy, not runny and thin.
- Prep the squash by mashing it up a little so that it’s thick and chunky.
- Now it’s time to start building your lasagna. Start with a 1/2 cup of the cashew cheese sauce on the bottom of your lasagna baking dish.
- Next, lay down one layer on lasagna noodle. Top with 1/2 of the squash mixture, 1/2 of the onions, 1/2 of the beans and 1/2 of the spinach.
- Pour 1/2 of the cashew cheese sauce over top all the veggies and beans and start again.
- Lay down the second layer of noddles. Cover with the rest of the ingredients (rest of squash, beans, onion, and spinach).
- Lay down the third layer of noddles cover by the remaining cashew cheese sauce.
- I topped my lasagna with a pumpkin parmesan, found here. This step is optional:)
- Bake the lasagna covered with tinfoil for 40 minutes then remove foil and bake for another 15-20 uncovered. Remove lasagna and allow to settle and cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- Serve and enjoy!
This dish makes the best leftovers! OMG, it was so good the next day served with a vegan caesar salad.