Giant Zucchini Squash Lasagna ~ plant based & gluten free
On my plant based diet with no gluten, I often crave foods like lasagna ~ so I decided to make a satisfying savory recipe ~
Plant based lasagna ~ a seasonal recipe
It’s always fun to cook seasonally, and when you find the zucchini and tomatoes ripe at the same time, I think lasagna. Nearly all the ingredients that made this recipe fun were found at the local farmers market (for me that was Eastern Market on Capitol Hill). I found some rather large zucchini so I used my largest lasagna pan and used a mandolin to slice the zucchini into about 1/4” strips and laid them into the pan. The first layer went on the length of the pan, then I laid them perpendicular, changing up each layer. All the other ingredients were layered in-between rather intuitively.
Ingredients to be added to the layers as you see fit ~ have fun and be creative!
1 large zucchini squash sliced 1/4”thin with a mandolin
very ripe tomatoes ~ I used cherry for the top and thickly sliced heritage tomatoes inbetween
Nut cheese (to keep it plant based) There are very good mozzarella nut cheezes out there. I added these throughout. Feel free to use your feta if you prefer.
Nutritional yeast - I sprinkled this in-between each layer and again on top ~ nutritional yeast adds lots of vitamin B’s and adds to the savory flavor
Basil leaves ~ layered throughout
1-2 TBS of oregano
Celtic sea salt sprinkled lightly in-between each layer
Spinach and/or arugula layered throughout
Mushrooms ~ lots of mushrooms layered throughout. Try using a lower water content mushroom like shiitake, sliced, in every layer except the top.
onions sliced thin and added between each layer and on top
Crispy topping ~
I wanted a crunchy crispier topping, so after all the ingredients were layered in place, with the final later of cheese on top, I sprinkled on the following
Sliced cherry tomatoes for decoration
3 T of Hemp Hearts
2 T Nutritional Yeast
1/2 C piñones or pine nuts
1/2 T Celtic sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
To bake ~
Preheat the oven to 350º F
Bake Covered loosely with aluminum for 40 minutes
increase the oven temperature to 425º Uncover the lasagna and bake another 14-20 minutes until top is slightly browned