Trying a new spin on an old classic is always a fun adventure. Taking something like say, lasagna, and making it fresh and new with say, white sauce and pureed veggies, is a particularly delicious adventure! I highly suggest taking the journey.

Instead of a traditional marinara sauce, this lasagna uses a cashew-based alfredo sauce that is super easy to whip up in your food processor. It also uses roasted veggies that are pureed into a creamy and colorful layer for the lasagna. My last experiment was to use fresh basil leaves as it’s own layer, which added a ton of flavor to the dish — definitely don’t skip that step!

Overall I was really excited about how this came out. My pureed vegetables included sweet potato, carrot, and yellow squash, but this would also work super well as an autumn dish with roasted butternut squash. Add this to your routine as a new take on a classic!

Ingredients
Vegetable Puree
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 yellow squash, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp salt

Vegan Ricotta
1 block extra firm tofu, pressed
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Vegan Alfredo Sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 cup cashews, soaked for at least an hour
1/3 cup water
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt

Lasagna Assembly
6 no boil lasagna noodles
10 basil leaves, plus more for garnish

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place sweet potato, carrot, and squash on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp salt.  Toss to evenly coat and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp olive oil and diced onion and saute for 3-4 minutes or until softened and slightly browned. Set aside. Next, in a food processor, add cooked onion, cashews, water, garlic, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 2 tsp salt. Puree until smooth and creamy like alfredo sauce. Add more salt or lemon juice as desired. Place in a bowl and set aside. Rinse out food processor and add crumble tofu, garlic, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Process until smooth and thick like ricotta. Place in a bowl and set aside. Rinse out the food processor again and add cooked sweet potato, carrot, and squash and another healthy pinch of salt, and puree until mostly smooth.

To assemble the lasagna, coat the bottom of an 8×8″ pan with a thin layer of the alfredo sauce. Top with two lasagna noodles. Next add another layer of alfredo sauce and half of the ricotta mixture. Then add two more noodles, a layer of sauce, the sweet potato puree, a layer of basil leaves, and another layer of sauce. Add two more noodles, a layer of sauce, the remaining ricotta, two more noodles, and pour over any remaining sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, and uncover for an additional 5 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with additional basil leaves.

Serves 4