Recipe: Plant-Based Lasagna Rolls

Growing up, Italian was actually my favourite cuisine, and while it’s fairly easy to create plant-based spaghetti dishes, healthy and tasty lasagna recipes can be harder to come by. Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to adapt Hot for Food’s Vegan Lasagna Roll-Ups recipe to be completely oil-free and gluten-free so people of all dietary restrictions can enjoy it, plus we decided to add a bit of Indian flare with the spice selection as well (thanks mom). If you’ve been looking for a truly satisfying and healthy lasagna recipe, this ought to do the trick.

 

Prep time: 45-60 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

Note: Cheese must be prepared 24 hours prior to the lasagna rolls

Serves 4-8

*Vegan

*Gluten Free

*Oil Free

 

What You’ll Need

High Speed Blender

Cheesecloth

Non-Stick Pan

Pot

9×9” Baking Dish

 

Ingredients

Almond ‘Cheese’

1 cup blanched sliced almonds

1/3 cup water

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp low sodium vegetable broth

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

½ tsp salt (optional)

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp white pepper

1 Tbsp finely chopped basil

 

Tomato Sauce

½ cup finely chopped white onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

1 tsp salt (optional)

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garam masala

2 Tbsp finely chopped basil

 

Lasagna Rolls

8 brown-rice lasagna noodles

4 cups baby spinach

1 large (or 2 small) zucchini

1 Tbsp low sodium vegetable broth

¼ tsp nutmeg

Salt (optional) and pepper to taste

 

Instructions

Almond ‘Cheese’

1. In a high-powered blender, combine all the cheese ingredients except the basil.
2. Once the mixture is smooth, fold the chopped basil into the mixture with a spoon, then place a double layer of cheesecloth over a large mixing bowl and pour the mixture into the cloth.
3. Take the excess ends of cheesecloth and tie it around a wooden spoon or something you can lay on top of the mixing bowl, suspending it in the bowl. It should not be touching the bottom of the bowl. Refrigerate this mixture and allow the excess water to strain from the cheese for 24 hours.
4. After 24 hours, remove it from the cheesecloth and place it in a new clean dish.

 

Tomato Sauce

1. Heat a pan over medium and sauté the white onion for 2 minutes with vegetable broth.
2. Add minced garlic and dried oregano and sauté for another minute.
3. Stir in the tomato sauce until the garlic and onions are well coated, then add crushed tomatoes, cayenne, garam masala, salt, and ground pepper. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Finally add basil, cover and simmer for another 20 minutes.
4. While it’s simmering pre-heat the oven at 325°

 

Lasagna Rolls

1. Boil the lasagna noodles in salted water for 5-6 minutes, until half-cooked. Drain and set the noodles aside on a damp towel or damp paper towel to prevent them sticking until you prepare the lasagna rolls.
2. Thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise (a mandolin makes this very easy).
3. Heat another pan over medium heat with a splash of vegetable broth, and add spinach, zucchini, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Sauté for about 4 minutes. If the vegetables let out water, that’s okay, just pour out the water before adding them to the rolls.
4. To assemble the rolls, take 1 Tbsp of the ‘cheese’ and spread it across each lasagna noodle right to the edges, then layer spinach and zucchini on top. Roll the lasagna noodle tightly.
5. Pour half the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9×9” baking dish. Place lasagna rolls 4 across and pour the remaining sauce over each row of rolls.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes

Enjoy!