Dairy-free Vegetable Lasagne
Italian cuisine is one of my favorite! I used to learn Italian when I was a teenager by merely reading a small, but thick cook book in Italian, at that time hiding in my grandparent’s kitchen under the “Eckbank”. Lasagne is one of those dishes that I have always adored. Strangely, very early I started to prefer my mother’s vegetarian version of the original minced meat Lasagne. She made it with so much love and know-how. Today, I am presenting my mother’s style vegetarian Lasagne made vegan. The only thing that has changed: The plant milk and oil as basis for the béchamel sauce instead of cow’s milk and butter, and a quick vegan cheese sauce instead of the Mozzarella. And probably the quantity … from a 8-family-member’s dish to a 2-people’s household meal … but, in double quantity, so in the end giving 4 portions, so we can enjoy one of our favorite weekday dishes also the next day…
There are two ways of making a Lasagne vegan. To use non-dairy product and prepare a vegetarian Lasagne – and already there are millions of different ways of how to prepare it, all sorts of different vegetable combinations – or to veganize the minced meat Lasagne by replacing the meat with soy granules. This recipe features the first. I realized, that vegan cuisine uses too much soy … So I am trying to get out of this hype and use soy only now and then in my recipes.
What do we need to prepare this Vegan Vegetable Lasagne?
- A nice béchamel sauce, made with plant milk, flour and oil or plant butter.
- A rich vegetable tomato sauce, made from sautéed zucchini, aubergine, celery, carrots, whatever other vegetables you have (eg spinach, chard, peas etc.) and tomato purée or pulp.
- Lasagne pasta sheets
Now let’s enjoy this Vegan Lasagne!
My Mother’s Style Vegetable Lasagne made vegan
Equipment
- 1 oven dish, square ca. 20 cm x 20 cm – if yours is larger, make a seperation with alu foil or the double amount of Lasagne 🙂
Ingredients
For the tomato vegetable filling
- 1/2 medium to large aubergine
- 1 medium to large carrot
- 1 small zucchini
- 1/3 stalk celery
- 500 g tomato pulp/sauce/purée
- 1-2 tsp dried herbs (herbes de Provence, oregano, marjoram)
For the béchamel
- 6 tbsp oil (or 3 tbsp plant butter)
- 6 tbsp all purpose flour
- 600 ml plant milk
- salt
For the optional vegan cheese sauce
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour/starch
- 1 cup plant milk
- 1-2 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1 pinch salt
Pasta
- 10-12 Lasagne sheets check for eggs when buying the sheets, most of the products are without
Instructions
Prepare the vegetable filling
- Cut the aubergine in small cubes. In a non-sticky pan, fry the aubergines in 2 tbsp oil until brown on all sides. Set aside.
- Peel and cut the carrot in small cubes. Cut the zucchini in small cubes. Remove the thin hair from the celery stalk and cut the celery in small pieces.
- Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat.Add the carrots, sautéing for about 3-4 minutes. Add the zucchinis and celery. Cook for another 3-5 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce. Season with the herbs, salt and pepper. Cook for approximately 5 minutes. Add the aubergine cubes and set aside.
Prepare the bechamel sauce
- In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.Whisk in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes until it forms a roux (a thick paste) and turns slightly golden.Gradually whisk in the plant milk, making sure to avoid lumps.Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes.Season well with salt and set aside.
Assemble
- Preheat the oven to 190℃.
- In a baking dish, place 4 lasagne sheets on the bottom. Spread half of the vegetable sauce over them. Finish with a layer of bechamel sauce (just enough to have bechamel for one and a half more layers). Repeat this procedure.Finish with a third layer of pasta and a thin layer of bechamel sauce on top.
Prepare the cheese sauce (optional)
- In a saucepan, mix well the tapioca, milk, nutritional yeast and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. It will thicken rapidly!
- Spread the cheese sauce over the lasagne. Bake the lasagne in the preheated oven for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the top layer turns brown and the side crispy.