Gluten-free, Plant-based Zucchini Pesto Lasagna

• Method
• Starting with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth. Slowly add more oil while processor is running if needed to get the correct texture. If you have more than 2 teaspoons of pesto it’s fine to add an extra to the dish or simply save it for your next meal. Pesto is good on almost anything… that’s an Italian speaking, of course!

Dr Vikki’s Cashew Cream Sauce

• Take 1 1/2 cups of raw organic cashews and cover in water for about 20 minutes. As long as you have a high speed blender, even 10-15 minutes will be fine because cashews are so soft.
• Drain the cashews into a high speed blender and cover with about 1 cup of purified water.
• Add a small squeeze (1 teaspoon) of organic lemon juice and blend until creamy.
• You should have a thick cream sauce. If it’s still chunky add a little more water. It it’s too thin just throw in another 1/4 cup of cashews.
• You can’t mess this up.
• Add salt
• You’ll be using 1 cup for the Creamy Pesto Sauce, set aside about 1/2 cup to drizzle atop the lasagna before you cook it.

Method for Creamy Pesto Sauce

• Heat the avocado oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Fry the zucchini slices until lightly golden brown on both sides.
• Remove the zucchini and set aside. In the same pan add 1 or 2 teaspoons avocado oil and saute mushrooms on high heat until lightly brown.
• Add the Quorn and cover, reducing the heat to medium until it’s heated through. This will take about 5 minutes. Stir the quorn and mushrooms to ensure nothing burns.
• Add the zucchini back into the saucepan.
• Add the pesto (either homemade or purchased – recipe above) and kale and cook for a couple of minutes to combine.
• Add 1 cup of the cashew cream (recipe above), nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes and put aside. If it’s getting a little dry you can add a splash or vegetable broth, but I don’t typically find that’s necessary.

To Assemble

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Grease a 11 x 7 inch casserole glass dish.
• Place 2-3 Tablespoons of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish and using the back of a spoon spread it evenly.
• Place 2 or 3 sheets of dry, uncooked lasagna noodles on the bottom of the dish. Ensure to cover the entire bottom. You can break the noodles if necessary to get coverage.
• Layer 1/3 of your cheese on top.
• Spoon about half of the Creamy Pesto Sauce on top.
• Top with a layer of noodles, this time running them perpendicular to your first layer.
• Layer another 1/3 of vegan cheese.
• Put the remainder of the Creamy Pesto Sauce on top.
• Finish with a final layer of lasagna noodles, this time running the same direction as your first layer.
• Carefully pour the entire jar of tomato sauce on top, making sure it seeps through the side and edges. You can push down with the end of a wooden spoon or knife but make sure you see the tomato sauce making its way down through all the layers.
• Since the noodles are raw it’s important to make sure the top layer is well covered.
• Drizzle some of the remaining cashew cream sauce over the top in a zig zag pattern, ensuring the tomato sauce is visible through it.
• Bake for 45- 50 minutes until golden on top. I like to start with it covered for about 15-20 minutes with aluminum foil. Take it out at that point, remove the aluminum foil and again push down on the top noodles so they don’t bow up. Pushing down on the top layer ensures the cook evenly. Cook for the remaining time.
• After the total time has elapsed put a knife through the top layer of noodles to ensure they’re soft and cooked. If so, remove from the oven and let it cool for about 20-30 minutes.