Nut Roast Lasagna

Whenever I make nut roasts, I often have leftovers.  Some days we serve them with more vegetables on the side.  Other days I enjoy finding creative ways to use the leftovers.   When I saw Mel of Veganise This making a cheezy nut roast lasagne, I was keen to try it.

Yet again, I am digging into my blogging backlog here.  I saw the recipe in the middle of the year.  Around the same time that I made the Green (pea) Nut Roast.   So my nut roast was chopped up and thrown into a tomato sauce with heaps of vegies.  I also added buckwheat for a bit more body.

I've never been one for lasagna with lots of meat and cheese sauce.  I love lots of vegies, a generous serving of protein and merely a layer of cheese sauce on top.  I experimented with tofu ricotta and tofu sour cream.  These vegan dairy alternatives made lasagna a far lighter dish.

I haven't seen a white sauce like Mel's before.   No milk or margarine/butter or cheese in sight.  Not even a slab of tofu.  The white sauce was lighter than a traditional bechamel sauce but had a bit too much seasoning for my tastes.  Once paired with the tomato sauce its intensity was somewhat diminished.  Definitely one to revisit.  Overall, we loved the lasagna and it lasted us a good 3 or 4 nights.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe
This time last year: Potato and Kale Enchiladas
This time two years ago: The joy of mouldy soy cheese and other quirky note...
This time three years ago: WTSIM: of cats, ukeleles and enchiladas

Nut roast lasagna
Adapted from Veganise this
serves about 6-8

Filling:
1 tsp olive oil
1 red onion
1 leek
1 medium carrot
2 medium parsnips
5 largish button mushrooms
700ml passata (pureed tomato)
2 cup water
1 cup of diced pumpkin
1 medium zucchini
1/4 cup dried buckwheat groats
1 bunch basil, roughly chopped
1/2 quantity of green (pea) nut roast
2 cups boiled cauliflower and broccoli
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
lots of black pepper

Cheezy sauce:
2/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup unbleached plain flour
1 teaspoon onion powder (I used granules)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Massel vegetable stock powder
2 cups water
1 teaspoon seeded mustard

To assemble:
1 box of instant wholemeal lasagna sheets (250g?)
2-3 handfuls of cornflakes, crushed

To make the filling: heat oil is a large saucepan and fry onion, leek, carrot parsnips and mushrooms.  I just put them in as I chopped them and took about 30 minutes.  Add passata, water, pumpkin, zucchni, buckwheat groats and basil.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Stir in nut roast, cauliflower, broccoli, and season.  Remove from heat and set aside until ready to assemble lasagna.

To make the sauce: place the nutritional yeast, flour, onion powder, garlic powder and stock powder in a medium saucepan.  Gradually stir in the water.  Stir in the mustard.  Bring to the boil so that the sauce thickens.

To assemble: Splash a little tomato sauce from the filling on the bottom of a rectangular lasagna dish.  Layer lasagna sheets, 1/3 filling, lasagna sheets, 1/3 filling, 1/3 cheezy sauce, lasagna sheets, 1/3 filling, lasagna sheets, 2/3 cheezy sauce, crushed cornflakes.  Bake at 180 C (350 F) for about 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown and when you push a knife inside the lasagna, the sheets feel soft.

On the Stereo:
Hal David and Burt Bacharach: the Songbook Collection: Various Artists

This post is part of Vegan Month of Food October 2011.  Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more Vegan MoFo posts.