Veggie Lasagna with Pesto and Mozzarella Sauce Questa ricetta è disponibile anche in italiano
Perfect for the holidays or a meal with friends this veggie lasagna with pesto and vegan mozzarella white sauce delivers an array of flavours and textures that everyone will love.
Are you ready to try one of the most mouthwatering plant based lasagna you can possibly make?
This Veggie Lasagna is literally bursting with flavour: layers of pasta sheets alternated with roasted vegetables and vegan mince, basil flavoured tomato sauce and a cheesy plant based mozzarella white sauce, all topped with generous tablespoons of dairy free pesto.
Your taste buds will literally party on every mouthful.
The generous amount of sauces will deliver a super moist and creamy texture, as well as allowing the pasta sheets to cook nicely and slightly crisp on top.
What we will need
If you are looking forward to make this rich and mouthwatering veggie lasagna you better add to your shopping list the following things:
- Soya TVP- Soya TVP (textured vegetable protein, aka vegan mince). You can substitute it with any vegan mince of your choice. I personally like to work with this particular ingredient as I consider it a "white canvas" that can be flavoured to my liking.
- Aubergines (also known as Eggplants overseas)
- Bell Peppers
- Onions
- Passata & Tomato Paste
- Vegan Pesto. Either store bought for a quicker alternative or you can make your own with fresh ingredients at home. To shoot this recipe I used a store bought one for practicality that I easily find in the most famous UK shop chains in the free from section. I also made this recipe with homemade pesto using my own grown basil and of course guys it will make a difference. So definitely make pesto from scratch if you really, really want to impress and pamper your palate even more, but do not refrain to use store bought if it's easier for you. I can guarantee it awesome as well.
- Fermented Tofu. If you already checked the recipe of my homemade vegan mozzarella you'd be familiar with how I love using this ingredient to actually achieve the cheesy flavour. However if you don't want to purchase it specifically for this recipe you can omit it or use 1 tablespoon of miso paste instead. Any miso will do, as long as it is, of course, suitable for vegans.
- Plant Milk. I personally have used soya. You can use any other plant based milk of your choice or make your own, as long as it is unsweetened. That's the main factor.
- Tapioca Starch. It will act as a thickener of the white sauce. It also gives a really nice stretch that resembled melted mozzarella, which I purposefully wanted to recreate in this dish as it does not contain any plant based cheese. If you don't have tapioca you can substitute it with any other starch or even all purpose flour. And of course you are free to add your favourite plant cheese to the layers of this lasagna.
And of course you're also going to need a bunch of herbs and spices for extra flavour which I'm assuming you already have in the pantry.
How to make this Veggie Lasagna with Pesto and Mozzarella Sauce
Overall this lasagna requires 5 steps:
1. Preparing the Filling
2. Making the Mozzarella White Sauce
3. Seasoning the Tomato Sauce
4. Building the Layers
5. Baking the Lasagna
PREPARING THE FILLING
The rich filling of this lasagna is made of fragrant roasted peppers, delicate, soft, juicy and melt-in-the-mouth aubergines, sweet caramelized onions as well as chewy and meaty soya textured protein (or vegan mince).
First of all we have to caramelize (or roast/sauté/stir fry if you like) the peppers in a kiss of olive oil with a pinch of salt. I chopped mine into cubes as I think they would spread more evenly, but if you want you can also slice them.
Cook the peppers on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, or until they are tender but still a bit crunchy (don't worry, they will finish cooking later and in the oven), then set them aside for the time being.
Next we need to roughly chop the onions and caramelize them too with another bit of olive oil for 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat.
Then cubed aubergine go in, followed by all the spices and herbs, and the vegan mince (This goes directly in as it is. You don't need to rehydrate it first. I actually rehydrate it very rarely, I prefer to cook it with the broth as I find it to be more flavourful this way).
Let's give everything a little stir then we add the tomato paste and the cooked peppers back in, followed by the vegetable stock.
Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 30 minutes.
In the meantime we can prepare the sauces.
MAKING THE MOZZARELLA WHITE SAUCE
To make the white sauce inspired by my vegan mozzarella recipe we simply have to add all measured ingredients to a blender bowl and blend for 30 seconds until smooth. Now set the sauce aside.
Note: We do not need to cook the sauce before layering the lasagna. This will thicken in the oven as well as cooking the lasagna sheets (that we won't pre cook as well) giving them even more flavour.
SEASONING THE TOMATO SAUCE
As per the previous sauce, also the tomato sauce doesn't need pre-cooking. All passatas sold in shops are already pre cooked anyway, and in this case we will finish the cooking in the oven anyway, which is more than enough for it.
The reason why I called this step "seasoning the tomato sauce" is simply because all we need to do is just mixing all the seasonings with the tomato sauce (you can even do it in its carton or bottle to save some washing ups) and set it aside.
BUILDING THE LAYERS
As soon as the 30 minutes to cook our gorgeous filling are gone we can start assembling our master piece.
Before that do not forget to preheat the oven at 180°C (350° F).
Now let's start spreading an even layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the tray (roughly ⅓ of the total).
Then place dry lasagna sheets on top of it, making sure to cover the entire area.
After that half of the filling goes in and it is well spread all over the lasagna.
Follow with the second third of tomato paste and around ⅓ of the white sauce.
Repeat the last two steps with another layer of pasta sheets, the remaining filling and tomato sauce, and another third of the white sauce.
Cover with the last layer of lasagne and the remaining mozzarella sauce. Do not worry if it looks too runny, it will thicken in the oven, I promise!
You just need to make sure you have a deep pan (I used a 20x30x10 cm pan for this recipes and the sauce was just perfect to the top rim). If yours is not deep enough you can also add more white sauce to the top half way though the oven or as soon as the lasagna has absorbed enough sauce.
Now top the lasagna with a few generous spoonful of vegan pesto and the creating is ready for the oven.
BAKING THE LASAGNA
Bake the veggie lasagna with pesto and mozzarella sauce in the preheated oven (@ 180°C / 350°F) for 50 minutes.
Before serving this beauty, please wait at least 10 minutes for it to set out of the oven.
This will allow you having uniform slices that do not fall apart on the serving plates.
Make it later, PIN it now
Veggie Lasagna with Pesto and Mozzarella Sauce
Ingredients:
300 g Lasagna Sheets
...for the filling...
600 g Water (or Vegetable Broth*)
500 g Aubergines (eggplants; 1-2, depending on size - cubed)
500 g Bell Peppers (mixed - cubed)
250 g Red Onions (4 medium - roughly chopped)
80 g Soya TVP (textured vegetable protein)
55 g Tomato Paste
2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Vegetable Bouillon Powder* (omit if using vegetable broth)
½ tablespoon Garlic Powder
½ tablespoon Onion Powder
½ tablespoon Sea Salt
1 tablespoon Pepper
½ teaspoon Sage
½ teaspoon Celery Salt
...for the mozzarella sauce...
680 g Soy Milk
75 g Fermented Tofu* (see note 2)
45 g Tapioca Starch* (see note 3)
2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
½ tablespoon Sea Salt
¼ teaspoon Celery Salt
¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
...for the tomato sauce...
500 g Passata
50 g Water
½ tablespoon Vegan Pesto
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
½ teaspoon Onion Powder
¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
¼ teaspoon Celery Salt
...toppings...
4-5 tablespoon Vegan Pesto
Fresh Basil (optional)
Method:
1. Sauté the peppers 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, or until they are tender but still a bit crunchy. Set aside.
2. Caramelize the onions in another tablespoon of oil for 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat.
3. Add cubed aubergine, followed by all the spices and herbs, and the vegan mince. Stir well and heat for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and the cooked peppers, followed by the vegetable stock (or water + bouillon). Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 30 minutes.
5. For the mozzarella sauce: simply add all the ingredients to a food processor bowl and blend for 30 seconds until smooth. Set aside.
6. Mix the tomato passata with water and all the seasonings with a spoon and set it aside as well.
7. Preheat the oven at 180°C (350° F).
8. Grab a 20x30x10 pan (see note 1) and spread an even layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the tray (roughly ⅓ of the total).
9. Place dry lasagna sheets on top of it, making sure to cover the entire area.
10. Spread half of the vegetable filling over the lasagna sheets, then add another ⅓ of tomato sauce followed by ⅓ of the white sauce.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 to create another, final layer.
12. Cover with the last layer of lasagne and spread over the remaining mozzarella sauce. The sauce it will appear too runny but do not worry, it will thicken in the oven (see note 1).
13. Top the lasagna with a few generous spoonful of vegan pesto and bake for 50 minutes.
14. Allow cooked lasagna to set out of the oven for at least 10 minutes before serving.
15. Top with fresh basil leaves if you like and enjoy!
Please note:
* You can use 1 tablespoon of vegan bouillon powder and 600 g of water or use 600 (ml) of vegetable broth instead.
1. Make sure you have a deep pan (I used a 20x30x10 cm pan for this recipes and the sauce was just perfect to the top rim). If yours is not deep enough you can also add more white sauce to the top half way though the oven or as soon as the lasagna has absorbed enough sauce.
YtheWait
Tasty!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adriana Z.
Thank you!
I hope you'll give it a try 🙂