Popping in on a Friday for a quick hello. A friend of mine who sometimes reads the blog told me over drinks once that it’s difficult to tell which recipes I truly love and which ones I just like. This recipe should leave you with no doubt. It’s one of the best things I’ve made in about a year. I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but it’s all Jessica’s straight out of her new cookbook, One Part Plant. It’s one of the easiest lasagnas I’ve ever made and certainly one of the tastiest. I’ve made this twice already, once on a weeknight.
What I love about it most is the cashew cream that serves as a sort of bechamel to complement the meaty mushrooms and the fresh herbs and greens. It’s hearty and filling in the way comfort food should be, yet the cashew cream and herbs lend it a light and elegant subtlety that elevates it above it’s “add the kitchen sink” counterpart. The recipe uses brown rice lasagna sheets which helps check all the boxes for nutrients greater than the sum of its parts–whole grains, fresh herbs, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and cashews. I took the liberty of adding a little crushed pepper for heat.
One of my biggest challenges with plant-based recipes has been trying to build satisfying mains without feeling like you’re really just eating a bunch of side dishes. This lasagna stands up to the test and truly assumes a place, layer by layer, next to or– dare I say– above the classic.
This is exactly the kind of dish I use to fuel a big run. On Sunday I completed the NYC half marathon! I ran it in just about 2 hours even, which is a pretty decent pace, considering my training was spotty. It was cold and long, but running through Times Square was so unique and there was so much energy on the streets that I ran my quickest mile there (which I paid for in the last mile). The course started in Central Park, taking us through Times Square and down the West Side Highway into the financial district and ending on Wall Street. What a feeling to cross that finish line.
While I could have trained more, having this race on the calendar was more to help get me through the winter doldrums. It gave me a goal and forced me to go outside and challenge myself in below-freezing temperatures sometimes because I made this commitment. And I was surprised at just how fast I could go, how much cold I could take and how quick recovery time was. On days where I’d be tempted to watch the Law & Order SVU television marathon on my couch, I forced myself outside to rise to the challenge.
Now that it’s officially spring, I’m looking forward to where my visits to the park will be a little warmer and to the days when I can make this recipe using yellow summer squash in place of the lasagna noodles!
Happy Friday and happy spring! xo
CREAMY MUSHROOM LASAGNA (V+GF)
From Jessica Murnane’s cookbook, One Part Plant
INGREDIENTS:
- Olive, grape seed, or coconut oil, or veggie broth for sautéing
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 16 ounces mushrooms, chopped (you can use a mix of different mushrooms)
- 1 tablespoon tamari or coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for a few hours (overnight is best), drained**
- 1 cup veggie broth
- 2 big handfuls spinach
- 10 ounces gluten-free lasagna noodles (I love Tinkyada’s brown rice pasta)
- 4 cups marinara sauce, store-bought (a 32 oz jar) or homemade (Jessica’s homemade sauce is JUST…!)
- Nutritional yeast (optional)
- hot pepper flakes to taste (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, heat a glug of oil or veggie broth over medium. When the pan is hot, add the garlic and sauté until it becomes fragrant. This will take about a minute. Add the mushrooms, tamari, and thyme. Cook, stirring every minute or so, for 6 to 8 minutes or until the mushrooms release their water and a little broth starts to form.
Combine the cashews and veggie broth in a high-speed blender and blend until the mixture is completely smooth. This might take up to 5 minutes, depending on the speed and power of your blender. Pour the cashew sauce into the pan with the mushrooms. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for a couple minutes to let the sauce thicken, stirring frequently. Throw in the spinach and stir for another minute.
Prepare the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions. Make sure to do this after your mushroom sauce is ready to go, so the noodles don’t sit for too long and start sticking together. Spread a third of the marinara sauce on the bottom of an 8-by-11-inch baking dish. Add a layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with half of the mushroom cream. Add a layer of noodles. Use another third of the marinara to cover these noodles. Add the remaining mushroom cream. Add the last layer of noodles and cover it with the remaining marinara sauce.
Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast over the top, if you like, and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 5 minutes before serving.
**If you’re a terrible planner, like myself, you can make this, with no noticeable difference by covering the cashews in a heat proof bowl with boiling water for 20 minutes (10 if you have a high speed blender). I do it every time.
i have 2 containers of gf lasagna noodles hanging out in the pantry, it’s been a good while that i’ve had them and i was going to just crumble them and add them to an Everything Soup and call it a day. however, this looks to be the kind of recipe that i could throw together and eat that day, or, throw together and freeze to eat another day. my kind of dish.
see you tonight!
DEFINITELY try this out. Both of us couldn’t get over how good this was. One of the best meals of the winter. It reheats really well too. I kind of wish they had the no boil necessary ones like they do for regular lasagna noodles, but it really doesn’t take that much extra time to make them. I actually had a few left over so you can mix them with something the next day. Can’t wait to see you!!
That sounds great – I lived on marinara with wholemeal pasta in my early 20s and I was very pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of rice pasta. I might have to visit the amazing Italian place next door, tonight, after reading this.
Congratulations on the half marathon 🙂
Thanks, MD. I haven’t had a lasagna in quite a while and this is so much more than that! The cashew cream. I think I have a thing for old Italian classics because the last thing that wowed me was the pizza. Thanks for the half marathon cheers. It was fun and I’d like to do it again, but maybe in warmer weather. I hope you’re doing well and have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks Amanda – you too 🙂
This lasagna sounds lovely! I like that you included instructions for people who aren’t such good planners for soaking the cashews!! (That would apply to me). 🙂 Congratulations on the half marathon! That must have been fun to run through all those parts of the city. What a great accomplishment! Hope you are enjoying the warmer weather and have a great weekend!
Thanks, Jenny. This is recipe you’d enjoy and I never remember to soak cashews. The half marathon was really fun and the warmer weather feels like such a relief, even if whoever controls the heat pipes in my building hasn’t caught up yet. It’s like 90f in my apartment as I write! Have a great weekend!
Oh congratulations on completing the marathon! I’m glad you enjoyed it, eventhough it sounds like it was far from easy. I am not sure I could have braved the cold… well done. Now you know you can do it! This dish looks really nice, I love veggie packed lasagna, especially with the delicious combination of mushrooms and spinach. I would love this! I had to google coconut aminos; I doubt it is something readily available here; does it taste of coconut?
Thanks. Darya. I honestly have never used them. I just used the soy sauce I had on hand, which isn’t the gluten free tamari or aminos. But they’re all similar. This is a great dish. As for running, while this was great I’ll take a break. I’m signed up for the crazy race again with my brother but this time in cape cod which is flat. After that I just plan to do little runs in the park. Have a great weekend. Miss you!
Good for you for getting off the sofa, I would still be sitting there and well done for your medal and finishing the race.
Hahaha thanks, Maria! As long as you had some beautiful flapjacks waiting for me that would be ideal 🙂
OoooOooOooo!!!
I never thought to use cashew cream as a substitute for bechamel sauce, freaking GENIUS!
And CONGRATS on the marathon love bug!! If you ever decide to run in the Boston Marathon (if you can even make it on their ever exclusive list * eye roll*), I’LL BE THERE WITH BELLS AND WHISTLES ON!
Def bookmarking this recipe woooo, my friend darby will love this 😆😆😆
It is a genius move. And so delicious. Thanks so much for the 1/2 marathon love. I don’t think I have any desire to run a marathon, but if I ever run a race in your direction I’ll hold you to the bells and whistles. I’d love that. I hope you’re doing well! Love checking in with you. xoxo Have a good week!
Have a great week too, you wonderful woman you <3
Congratulations on the run!!! That’s awesome. Inspirational for sure 🙂 And that lasagna would satisfy a hungry runner for sure. Yay you 🙂 Love that you’re still keeping on keeping on. Woot.
Thanks, Liz! I’m looking forward to some camping posts from you! Xo
Happy spring to you and big congratulations on running the half marathon! What a fantastic goal to reach! You’ve earned some relaxing couch time, although I’m sure you’ll be setting and attaining more goals for yourself very soon. I’m impressed!
I know what you mean about making plant based dishes the main star…this lasagna certainly succeeds in doing so. Mushrooms add so much savory and satisfying oomph to a dish so I know I’ll like this one. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Hannah! Happy Spring and Passover. Running was great, but I definitely need a break. And you called it, I do have some more goals. I think you’ll love this dish because even the pasta has nutritional value and yet the whole thing tastes so darn good! I hope you’re doing well! xo
I have a girlfriend who can’t pass up lasagna. The problem is her husband is going gluten free. This recipe sounds like the perfect answer to make them both happy.
That’s excellent Karen! That would love this. I like it more than the real thing. So nice to see you here. I hope you’re doing well and ready for spring!
I am finally at my desk with some time to read you. I love how accessible your writing is and how you add little things like tips for poor planners (gulity!). I always feel like it’s an actual visit – as though I can visualize your life; your kitchen; your forcing yourself from the couch and potential Law & Order marathons to train for real marathons instead; the finish line itself and all the energy and excitement at various points along the way. Congratulations btw on your successful run. Well done!
I’m printing off this recipe and look forward to trying it. I keep those Tinkyada brown rice noodles in my pantry. And I’ll get some nutritional yeast – it makes great salad dressing too.
Happy spring Amanda. xo
Your comments are always so beautiful. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the congrats. The run was fun. I don’t know about training through another winter, but this tine it worked. And now it’s beautiful spring. I saw you have a new recipe up so I’ll check it out! As for the lasagna, these rice noodles are new to me. I now make them a pantry staple too. And I use nutritional yeast on my salads every day. So funny. I hope you’re well and can’t wait to read what you’ve been up to. Xoxo