This noodle-free vegan lasagna recipe is the perfect way to lighten the lasagna load that fits the bill for summer while still providing you with the comfort of its traditional counterpart. Enjoy!
It may seem odd at first in a lasagna, but sweet potato makes for an excellent vegan cheese. The mustard and garlic powder cut the sweet potato taste, making it more tart, and the nutritional yeast adds that cheesy taste we know and love. The sweet potato’s texture is also creamy and thick, which means it is easy to spread (and very filling!). As for the lasagna “noodles“, this recipe uses baked strips of zucchini and eggplant, which soften to the texture of noodles, although much lighter and more moist, but still manage to hold their own, so they don’t crumble in the lasagna.
Recipe: Noodle-Free Vegan Lasagna
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Veggie Layers
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 large zucchini
- Dash of salt, pepper and oregano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Cheese
- 1 baked sweet potato
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
For the Assembly
- 8 ounces pureed tomatoes
- Dash of salt, pepper and oregano
Directions
Slice zucchini and eggplant along their length to form thin, 1/2-strips. Place each piece flat on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and oregano. Bake in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes or until the vegetables have browned, but have not become hard and crispy.
For the sweet potato cheese, pop a whole sweet potato in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 40 minutes, or until the sweet potato is soft throughout. Peel the skin off and mix the potato in a medium bowl with mustard, nutritional yeast, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
For assembly, alternate levels of zucchini and eggplant strips with sweet potato “cheese” so that there are two levels of cheese and three of the vegetable strips. Pour 1 cup of pureed tomatoes on top of the finished layers. Season with salt, pepper and oregano and dollop the remaining cheese.
Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
Photo Credit: GlowKitchen