Description
The ultimate vegan and gluten free Italian comfort food- a healthy spin on a cross between classic eggplant parmesan x lasagna!
Ingredients
Scale
For the cashew ricotta:
- 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in filtered water overnight
- 1/4 cup almond or any dairy free milk
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp honey (agave if you don’t eat honey)
- 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves garlic
- ~5 leaves of fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the eggplant lasagna:
- 2 large eggplants, sliced into about 1/4” rounds (i like to slice a few of the rounds in half to fit better into the baking dish)
- olive oil
- 1 batch of cashew ricotta
- 1 1/3 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
- 3–4 fresh basil leaves, torn
- red pepper flakes for topping
Instructions
- Soak the cashews overnight, then rinse and drain well.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a large baking dish wish parchment paper. toss the eggplant slices with a good drizzle of olive oil and season with sea salt. spread out across the pan and roast for 20 minutes. while eggplant is in the oven, make the cashew ricotta.
- To make the ricotta, add all ingredients to a food processor and process until a ricotta-like texture is formed. this should only take a few minutes tops (you may need to scrape down the sides once or twice). transfer to a small bowl.
- To make the eggplant lasagna, get all of the ingredients ready and a 9” pie dish- i like a shallow pie dish for this. start by spreading 1/3 cup marinara on the bottom, then cover with a layer of eggplant slices. spread some of the cashew ricotta over the eggplant, enough to mostly cover all of the eggplant (pictures above). spread another 1/3 cup or so of marinara over the ricotta and some of the torn fresh basil. layer again with eggplant, repeating the pro 3 times. you want to finish with a layer of the ricotta and marinara.
- Place pie dish in the oven, and bake for about 20 minutes or until tomato sauce is bubbling and ricotta is slightly browned on top. serve immediately, or reheat in the oven.