This vegan lasagna is so delicious you won’t miss the cheese at all!

There are so many really great vegan lasagnas out there, but sometimes its nice to give the body a break from cheese substitutes and tofu! This lasagna is full of whole foods, is packed with nutrients, and is easy to assemble. Using raw veggies further adds to the simplicity of this dish. This is the perfect Sunday dinner because it is so comforting, but also gives the body what it needs to start the week off right!  Also, lasagna left overs make the perfect lunch, especially this one!

Too Good for Cheese Lasagna

Pesto:

• 1 cup parsley leaves
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 smashed garlic clove
• 1/2 cup dry roasted papitas
• juice from half a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Marinara:

• 2 24 oz jars strained tomatoes (I did have some marinara left over after the lasagna was complete)
• 1 diced yellow inion
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil to cover bottom of pan

The rest:

• 12oz package of whole wheat or whole grain lasagna noodles of choice
• 5-10 oz pre washed baby kale, spinach or power greens
• 1 8oz package of baby portobellos
• 2 cups diced bell peppers

Start by bringing water to a boil and cook your pasta by following the instructions on the box.

Coat the bottom of your pan with olive oil and over medium low heat, saute the onion. Once the onion softens, after about 7 minutes, add the garlic. After two minutes add the two jars of strained tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare the pesto simply add all of the ingredients, except the olive oil, to your food processor or vitamin. Add the olive oil while processing. Process until you reach your desired consistency.

For the fun part! to assemble your lasagna, first coat the inside of your pan with olive oil or vegan butter, and some sauce. Lay down a layer of cooked noodles (I used 5 noodles per layer) followed by sauce and sliced portobellos and bell peppers. You can eyeball the amounts here, using an even amount for each layer. Add some dollops of the pesto on top of and in between the veggies. Then add the raw greens (don’t be too shy here because they will cook down) followed by another layer of noodles. Carry on until you reach the top layer. Add a generous amount of sauce to the top layer of noodles (so they don’t dry out) and any mushrooms, peppers and pesto you have left over. I did not have much left over and I arranged them all in the middle of the top layer, rather than spreading them evenly around. Finally, generously drizzle olive oil over the top layer of your lasagna. Bake at 415 for 30 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

Danielle