This is a little bit messy and time-consuming, but fun to make with friends if you allocate a different part of the prep to each person and then build it, bake it, drink some wine – and eat it!
SERVES 6, GENEROUSLY
SHOPPING LIST
1 portion of Fresh Tomato Napoli Sauce
2 portions of Cashew Cream (you can get away with 1 or 1½ portions if 2 is a bit decadent)
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large courgettes (zucchini) avocado oil, to brush the pan sea salt, to taste
olive oil
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
200–400 g (7–14 oz) brown mushrooms, finely sliced
a large bunch of chard or kale
235 g (8 oz/1½ cups) snow peas, freshly shelled or frozen
enough lasagne sheets to make 3 layers in whatever dish you are using a small handful of hemp seeds or pine nuts (or both) basil leaves, to garnish
YOU NEED TO…
Prepare the tomato sauce and Cashew Cream following the recipes, adding the finely chopped garlic and nutmeg to the cream when blending.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas mark 4).
Heat a chargrill pan to high. Cut the courgettes into 5 mm (¼ in) thick slices on a long diagonal. Brush the grill pan with avocado oil, place the courgette slices over it and sprinkle them with salt. Allow to cook for 4–5 minutes or until grill lines appear. Flip and cook for another 4–5 minutes and then transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining slices.
Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chopped shallots and cook for a few minutes. Next add the mushrooms and stir until they begin to release liquid. Remove the thick stems from the chard or kale, cut the leaves in half and then into thin slices and add to the shallot and mushroom mix.
Place the peas in a saucepan of cold water and cook them on a high heat. When the water is boiled, the peas are ready – regardless of whether they were fresh or frozen.
Build the lasagne by covering the bottom of your dish with lasagne sheets. Spoon a third of the tomato sauce over the sheets. Top with the peas. Pour a third of the Cashew Cream over.
Place another layer of lasagne sheets over the pea layer, another third of the tomato sauce, the shallot, mushroom and chard mix and then another third of the Cashew Cream.
Finish with a layer of lasagne sheets and the remainder of the tomato sauce. Arrange the courgette slices nicely over the top and drizzle over the remaining Cashew Cream. Top with a sprinkling of hemp seeds or pine nuts.
Cook the lasagne, covered, in the oven for 45 minutes and uncovered for a further 15 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Top with few leaves of fresh basil, to garnish.
NOTES
You can buy ready-made tomato sauce if you don’t have time to make your own. You can also make the sauce more ‘meaty’ by adding lentils as in the Bolognese recipe on Spag bol with courgette zoodles. For a super simple lasagne, skip the veggies and just use lasagne sheets, tomato sauce and Cashew Cream.
Pumpkin (squash) and aubergine (eggplant) also work great in place of courgette (zucchini), as do asparagus spears. Be experimental. This recipe is incredibly versatile and always delicious.
