Roasted Butternut Lasagna with Crispy Sage and Cashew Bechamel - seriously flavorful vegan comfort food! Rich and sweetly savory, great for a weeknight dinner, perfect for entertaining!
Whenever I make lasagna I am reminded of my first years of cooking away from home - in college, in my own place for the first time. I learned about bechamel sauce and it became my favorite thing. I wanted to add bechamel to all the foods.
Then I made my very first lasagna. Back then I thought I was brilliant for using bechamel in place of ricotta or other soft cheese in the filling. I made many lasagna this way, as it was often requested when I hosted dinner parties or offered to bring something to an event.
I have made almost every lasagna with bechamel. Serious comfort food.
This is the first lasagna I have made in a while.
I wanted to bump up the protein without using a faux meat product, so instead of starting my bechamel with the usual butter-flour roux, I blended in cashews. Not only did I get my wanted protein, the result was a creamy sweet rich flavor.
We are in nutmeg week of Meatless Mondays A-Z, and while the nutmeg is a standard ingredient in my bechamel sauces, I also used it here to add warm spice to the butternut squash as it roasted. Wonderful depth of flavor in this dish.
Roasted Butternut Lasagna with Crispy Sage
inspired by lasagne alla zucca
dairy, egg, soy and gluten free, vegan
makes 9 x 11 pan of lasagna
INGREDIENTS:
1 butternut squash
drizzle olive oil
pinch sea salt
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
9-10 fresh sage leaves
1 package lasagna noodles (I use these - gluten free)
cashew bechamel sauce (recipe follows)
7 ounces jack cheese, sliced
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare cashew bechamel sauce (see recipe below).
Peel, remove seeds/innards, and cut butternut squash into cubes. Arrange in single layer on (parchment) baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and nutmeg. Arrange sage leaves on same sheet, brush with olive oil. Roast in 300 degree oven - 5 minutes for sage leaves, 30-35 minutes for squash. Remove from oven and cool.
Transfer cooled squash cubes to food processor and purée until smooth.
Assemble lasagna layers: Pour a small amount of bechamel in 9 x 11 baking dish. Add noodles. Spread a layer of squash purée, top with cheese, another layer of bechamel, top with crispy sage. Repeat steps for two more layers.
Cover with foil (especially important if using no-boil pasta noodles) and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10-15 minutes, to set - you get even slices of lasagna layers this way.
Cashew Bechamel
dairy, egg, soy and gluten free, vegan
INGREDIENTS:
½ cup raw cashews
3 cups almond milk, divided
4 tablespoons butter (Earth Balance soy free)
4 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
In high speed blender or food processor, process cashews until crumbly. Add 1 cup milk while processing, until a smooth cashew cream forms - this will be much thinner than traditional cashew cream.
In saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to darken in color - a light tan. Continue to stir while adding cashew milk. Mixture will thicken. Whisk in remaining two cups milk, and the salt and nutmeg, remove from heat.
This to me is the epitome of cold weather comfort food. Brightly flavored squash between layers of rich sauce and boldly flavored cheese. The crispy sage adds an earthy flavor perfect for winter foods. We will be enjoying this again soon.
What is your favorite cold weather comfort food?
printable recipes:
dairy, egg, soy and gluten free, vegan
[b]Roasted Butternut Lasagna with Crispy Sage[/b]
Ingredients
Instructions
Cashew Bechamel[/b]" thumbnail="https://www.spabettie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/[email protected]spabettie.jpg" type="recipe"]
Bee says
This was a fantastic recipe. 4 stars, I felt it could have used a smidge of sweetness, but other than that it was cookbook worthy for sure. The cashew sauce was out of this world.
Ceara @ Ceara's Kitchen says
This looks to die for!!!!!
Erin @ Platings and Pairings says
This looks absolutely delicious - Love the crispy sage! Pinning for winter weather!!!
Janel from NellieBellie says
I love the use of butternut in lasagna! It makes it all sweet and creamy without the cheeses and such. Clever, clever girl!!
Kristina Sloggett says
exactly, Janel! 🙂 I do not even miss the cheese...
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
oh my bechamel made with cashews?! Seriously, that is the best part of the lasagna (the only time something can take over actual cheese!)
Kristina Sloggett says
indeed. bechamel was always my favorite, and honestly? cashews TAKE IT OVER THE TOP. so incredibly good.
Lara says
Hi there! Been looking forward to trying this (even though it's spring already...lol!) for some time now. I'm planning to sub pumpkin just cuz I have so much already that I made. So I'm sure the flavor will be a bit different...but I have a question...other than roasting the sage, I don't see where you put it in the recipe. Am I missing it? Looks like (from the pictures) that you crush and sprinkle it on in the layering steps... Thanks for any insight! I'm making this tonight! I've never done bechamel sauce before and I'm looking forward to trying it! I use cashews for everything! My cheese, my ice cream, so much is made with it! 😀 Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Kristina Sloggett says
hi Lara! thank you for pointing out my error - other than the photo showing the layering process, I did not leave instructions for the addition of sage! I have amended the assembly instruction - basically you crumble the crispy sage and sprinkle over each bechamel layer.
the flavor of pumpkin might be a bit different, but still complimentary with these flavors! enjoy the recipe - it is one of our favorites! cheers!
Diane says
I didn't think of that because I live in a remote region without vegan products. My apologies.
Diane says
Sorry, but this is not vegan because it has butter and cheese in it (two animal products). It is vegetarian, however.
Kristina Sloggett says
hello Diane.
if you see the link for the cheese, you will see it links to Daiya, a dairy free/soy free vegan cheese product. if you read the note in the ingredient line for butter, it says "Earth Balance soy free" - which is a vegan butter product.
I have not used animal products for years.
thanks!
Stephanie says
Oh, Spabettie!!!!! I made this last night, and it is one of the best and most impressively delicious dishes ever! I cannot believe that béchamel sauce-it was so very yummy, the nutmeg in this recipe worked so well. I gave some to the doctor I work with, and he could not understand how it could be so full of flavor and vegan at the same time-and he's a vegan! I've just discovered your website, and I want to thank you so much. Amazing!
vegantester says
if i'm using ground nutmeg (ie not fresh), would i use a lot less than the 2 tsp in the recipe?