Creamy Vegan Lasagna

While I normally favor quick and simple recipes, there is something intensely rewarding about spending an hour cooking a lasagna. Not only it’s a comforting meal, but it’s perfect to store in the fridge and eat over the course of two days or share with your favorite people. I make mine depending on the veggies I have available. The one constant is the layer of kale and coconut cream. The rest can be done with whatever vegetables you have hanging around.

Serves 6

Ingredients for creamy vegan lasagna

For the tomato layers

• 900g tomato sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon buffalo wing sauce
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 400g mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup of walnuts
• 1 pinch of paprika
• 1 pinch cinnamon

For the kale layer

• 2 cups of curly kale, washed and roughly chopped
• 2 cups coconut cream

For the vegan béchamel

• 3 tablespoons gluten-free flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 700ml oat milk
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 pinch of nutmeg

To build the lasagna

• 300 g gluten-free lasagna sheets

Directions for creamy vegan lasagna

1. In a big pan, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add all your veggies (except for the curly kale) and cook until slightly softened.
2. Then add the tomato sauce. Stir.
3. Add the paprika, cinnamon, and the buffalo wing sauce. Stir and lower the heat. Let it all simmer for ten minutes, then pour into a bowl and set aside.
4. In another pan, add the kale and cook it until it wilts. Add salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add the coconut cream, mix roughly. Set aside.
5. In a deep saucepan, bring water to the boil and cook your lasagna sheets until they soften.
6. Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 Fahrenheit).
7. Begin building your lasagna in a greased baking dish, add your first lasagna sheets, then cover with the tomato sauce mix. Add another layer of lasagna sheets, then your kale and cream mix. Then some more sheets, and repeat the same layers once more. Top with the last lasagna sheets and set aside.
8. Make your vegan bechamel. Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan, very gently. Add the flour and stir or whisk vigorously. Pour in the oat milk little by little. Continue to stir - use a whisk if it’s lumpy, or alternate with a wooden spoon. The sauce will gradually thicken. When the béchamel reaches the right thickness, remove it from the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
9. Pour over your lasagna, carefully. Top it all with vegan feta cheese, any other vegan alternative, or sprinkle the nutritional yeast.
10. Cover the lasagna with tin foil, bake for 30 minutes.
11. Remove the foil, sprinkle some nutritional yeast or vegan feta, and bake for a further 15 minutes.
12. Let it cool a bit before serving, and enjoy.