Epic Eggplant Lasagna
Vegan eggplant lasagna with breaded roasted eggplant, tofu ricotta, rich marinara, and cashew cream sauce. Baked until golden and bubbling. Epic in every way.
Ingredients
For the eggplant:
- 1 3-pound eggplant, cut crosswise into not-quite-½-inch-thick slices
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
For the tofu ricotta:
- 2 14-ounce packages extra-firm tofu
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the white sauce:
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in water for at least 2 hours and drained (no need to soak if you have a highspeed blender)
- ¾ cup water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the lasagna:
- 3 jars or 3 X recipe Mom’s Homemade Marinara
- 1 pound lasagna noodles
- Fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
Make the eggplant:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
- Put the eggplant slices in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt, tossing to coat. Arrange the slices in a single layer on the lined baking sheets and bake, flipping once, until tender, about 30 minutes. Set aside until ready to assemble. Leave the oven on.
Make the tofu ricotta:
- While the eggplant is in the oven, crumble the tofu into a large bowl. Use an avocado masher to mash until it resembles ricotta. Add the nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper and continue to mash until well combined. Set aside.
Make the white sauce:
- Combine the cashews, water, cornstarch, and salt in a blender. Puree until completely smooth, up to 5 minutes depending on the strength of your machine. Stop periodically to scrape down the sides and keep the machine from overheating. Set aside.
Assemble the lasagna:
- Lightly grease the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Ladle in a thin layer of marinara, then arrange a single layer of noodles over the sauce.
- Ladle in another layer of sauce about ½ inch deep. Arrange half the eggplant slices over it, then spoon half the ricotta in scattered dollops on top.
- Ladle in another ½ inch layer of sauce, then repeat: noodles, eggplant, ricotta, sauce, and finally one more layer of noodles on top.
- Get plenty of sauce over the top layer. Tightly seal the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. The noodles should be tender by this point.
- Remove the foil. Drizzle the cashew sauce over the top in zigzagging Jackson Pollock motions, then bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes.
- Scatter the basil leaves and pine nuts over the top and serve.
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