Vegan Acorn Squash

I feel like Lasagna is the perfect example of a dish that can be transformed from season to season, so being able to keep an eye on what ingredients are in season and easily available are always important to me. I hope you enjoy this fresh take on lasagna.

Soak 2 cups of unsalted cashews in 2 cups of water for at least 1 hour.

Next carefully slice an acorn squash into large wedges—removing the inner pulp. Place the wedges on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20-25 at 500°F, or under fork tender with caramelized edges.

Once the cashews have finished soaking, add them (water and all) to a blender and blend on high speed for 2-3 minutes.

Strain the cashew blend through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.

Separate the cashew cream from the cashew ricotta (solids), but keep both in separate bowls to be used for different purposes.

Using the cashew ricotta, add 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of chopped thyme, salt, pepper, and 2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast.

Mix well and set aside.

Next using the cashew cream, add it to a saucepan on low heat and steep with a few sprigs of thyme and salt to taste. Once this starts to steam, remove from the heat as it easily burns and remove the sprigs of thyme.

Once the squash is tender, remove from the oven and begin stacking your lasagna.

I’m using single serving pans, but you don’t have to.  Start with a layer of warm cashew cream.

Continue to stack with a lasagna noodle (I used fresh, dried works as well…

…more cashew cream…

…cashew ricottca…

…chunks of roasted acorn squash…

…torn spinach…

…and a drizzle of the cream sauce. 

Repeat steps 3-4 times until the lasagna is stacked to the top of the pan.

Finish the final layer with cashew cream, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 400°F for about 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Lastly, blend 2 1 ⁄ 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 bunch of parsley, 1 ⁄ 4 cup of canola oil, and 2 cups of spinach until it is a fine green puree.  Strain with a fine mesh strainer and set aside until the lasagna is baked.

Once the lasagna is ready, remove it from the oven.

Drizzle with the herbaceous oil.

Add a dash of fresh thyme.  All that’s left to do is enjoy.

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| Cutting Board | Baking Dish | Sauce Pan | Vitamix Blender | Pasta Maker |