Vegan spinach lasagne

Step 1

Heat up olive oil (use 2 tbsp for a less indulgent version) in a large frying pan, add diced onion and sautée on low-medium heat until softened. Add chopped leek and garlic. Continue sautéing until softened.

Step 2

Place drained sunflower seeds, unpressed tofu, miso, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, nutmeg, some salt and pepper in a food processor. Process while trickling in plant milk until the mixture resembles ricotta cheese.

Step 3

Add sunflower tofu mixture, squeezed out spinach and herbs to the pan with sautéed aromatics. Stir well to combine, add lemon juice (you can adjust the amount to taste) and the rest of the plant milk and adjust seasoning to taste. The mixture will be quite loose/wet when you are done.

Step 4

Warm plant milk up in a small saucepan. Place miso in a small bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of milk from the saucepan, stir until it dissolves, set aside.

Step 5

Slowly heat up olive oil in a large saucepan (stainless steal works best for this). Once the oil starts to shimmer, sprinkle in flour while whisking the whole tine.

Step 6

Allow the fat-flour mixture (known as roux) to bubble gently on low-medium heat for a minute, whisking the whole time. Don't let it brown.

Step 7

Take the pot off the heat and slowly pour in warmed plant milk while whisking the whole time. Initially the mixture may look a bit lumpy - don't worry, it will recover once all the milk has been whisked in. Once the mixture looks stable and smooth, whisk in miso and nutritional yeast and garlic powder (if using).

Step 8

Return the pot to the stove. Simmer briefly (while whisking) until the sauce thickens to a consistency of cream. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Step 9

Preheat the oven to 180° C / 390° F (or 160° C / 320° F with fan).

Step 10

Put ½ cup of bechamel sauce and ½ cup spinach sauce at the bottom of your baking dish. Follow this up with a layer of lasagne sheets.

Step 11

Spread 1½ cups of spinach sauce on top and cover it up with another layer of pasta. Repeat the same two layers two more times.

Step 12

Finally spread the remainder of the spinach sauce on top of the last pasta layer followed by all of the bechamel sauce. Spread it evenly with a spatula.

Step 13

Cover the dish with a piece of kitchen foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Step 14

Increase the oven temperature to 220° C / 430° F, uncover the dish and bake for another last 10-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Step 15

Allow the dish to set for at least an hour or else the slices will come out messy. Store the leftovers for up to 5 days in the fridge or freeze in air-tight containers.