Vegan and Gluten Free
Serendipity Jane
Original Recipe: Jane Fox
Pumpkin Sage Lasagna combines savory, yet sweet, pumpkin sauce with sage, vegan cheeses, and gluten free noodles, to reinvent lasagna for special occasions!
My Inspiration
Thanksgiving dinner should be special. It should be a feast fitting of the day: memorable and extraordinary. It should be the kind of event where there is an air of excitement as your family and friends gather to the table. The problem is, how do you pull off an epic holiday dinner, vegan and gluten free, without condemning yourself to hours of cooking and cleaning in the kitchen, and is special enough to replace the traditional Turkey as a centerpiece to your table?
When my son was young, I came up with a solution: homemade lasagna! It was special enough for a holiday, certainly not something I served for a weeknight dinner. Best of all, I could make it ahead of time! All I had to do was to just pop in the oven on Thanksgiving morning! My day could be spent playing Battleship with Andrew, visiting with family, or relaxing by the fire. Lasagna was the perfect holiday solution!
This years lasagna is, of course, gluten free and vegan, but it’s inspired by my love for butternut squash raviolis, which I haven’t had since my gluten intolerance diagnosis. The sweetness of the filling paired with the earthniesess of the sage makes for a perfect flavor match. My goal was to re-create that flavor combination, while keeping it simple and Pumpkin Sage Lasagna is all of that!
The Plan
In the past, I’ve made the entire lasagna weeks ahead of time and kept it in the freezer until the night before, when I would put it in the fridge to thaw. Unfortunately, gluten free noodles are more delicate than regular lasagna noodles, and they begin to soften if the dish is prepared too early. My new plan involves making the individual components of the dish a couple of days ahead of time, then I assemble the lasagna on Thanksgiving morning. No freezing. No thawing. It’s a little bit more holiday kitchen time for me, but not so much that it ruins the day.
Sauce Ingredients
The sauce goes together very quickly. Canned pumpkin is used because it is a shortcut. It provides the same sweet flavor as butternut squash without the huge hassle of peeling, chopping, and roasting. Just make sure that you are getting pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling that has eggs and sugar mixed in.
The crushed tomatoes add a nice savory balance to the sweetness of the pumpkin, but the pumpkin definitely dominates the taste.
Coconut milk provides a rich creaminess that, in a traditional recipe, would require the use of cream.Make sure you purchase the canned coconut milk instead of coconut milk intended as a beverage.
Sage is the predominate seasoning, but onion, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg, and just a pinch cinnamon, provide layers of extra flavor. I try to use fresh herbs whenever I can because the flavor is better, but if you need to, feel free to substitute dried herbs, reducing the amount accordingly. (One Tablespoon of fresh herbs = One Teaspoon of dried herbs)
Making the Sauce:
- Add a tablespoon of oil to a medium sized fry pan
- Chop one to two large onions, so that you have two cups and add to the frying pan over medium heat.
- When the onions are translucent, add in the chopped garlic.
- Stir and cook for another minute.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Chop the fresh sage and rosemary.
- Open the cans of pumpkin, the crushed tomato, and the canned coconut milk and add them to a large pot.
- Add the onion mixture, the chopped herbs, and the nutmeg, and cinamon to the pot.
- Turn the heat to medium.
- Once the mixture is at a boil, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer.for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Set aside to cool.
The Lasagna
The Ricotta Mixture Ingredients
To replace traditional ricotta in the recipe, I’ve used a plant based almond Ricotta from Kite Hill. The taste is amazing. You might be surprised that its not the real deal.
The mixture is held together by an egg substitute of ground flax and water know as a Flax Egg. When ground flax seed and water are mixed together, they combine to make a gooey mixture suitable as an egg substitute.
Fresh Herbs are also added to the egg mixture. Italian parsley, fresh sage, rosemary, nutmeg, chopped garlic, all add flavor to the ricotta mixture. If your mixture is a little stiff add a couple of Tablespoons of water, one at a time, until you’ve reached the desired spreadable consistency.
Making the Ricotta Mixture
- Grind the Flax seed and combine 1 Tablespoon of the ground mixture with 2 and a half tablespoons of water. Let set for 5 minutes.
- Finely chop the Parsley, sage and rosemary.
- Grate 1/4 cup of vegan Parmesan. I used Violife. It is excellent!
- Mix the two cups of Almond Ricotta Cheese with the flax egg, the parsley, sage, rosemary,garlic, salt and pepper, and the nutmeg.
- If the mixture seems too thick to spread, add the water , one Tablespoon at a time, until it becomes spreadable. Be careful that it doesn’t become too thin.
- Cover and set the mixture aside.
Preparing the Vegetables
Adding vegetables to the zucchini helps add texture, color, vitamins and fiber to the dish!
- Wash the zucchinis and cut off the ends.
- Slice the Zucchinis in slices that are about 1/4″ thick. Do not peel.
- Pat dry and set zucchinis aside.
- Wash the spinach.
- Carefully trim the stems off of each leaf. Keep the leaves whole. Do not chop.
- Pat the spinach leaves dry.
- Set all veggies aside.
Putting It All Together
We are finally at the point that we can put the whole thing together! If you are preparing your Pumpkin Sage Lasagna for a future day, now is the time to cover and refrigerate each element of the casserole. It should be ok in the fridge for a couple of days. You may want to place a dry paper towel in with the spinach , and another among the zucchini, to capture any extra moisture.
So now it’s time to put everything together!
- Preheat the oven to 350º.
- In a 9 x 13 baking pan (or divide the ingredients between two 8 x 8 baking pans), place one cup of the sauce in the bottom of the pan(s) and distribute evenly. this will keep the lasagna from sticking to the pan. No need to grease the pan.
- Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles over the sauce to covering the surface. If you want a more substantial lasagna, you can layer the pieces. I laid them side by side and did not overlap the pieces.
- Spread about 2 to 3 Tablespoons of the ricotta mixture on each noodle. One of the benefits of not having to cook them ahead is that it is much easier to spread the ricotta mixture!
- Sprinkle the vegan mozzarella shreds over the ricotta layer making sure to cover the entire surface.
- On top of the mozzarella shreds, layer the zucchini pieces in rows to cover the top.
- Next, place a single layer of spinach leaves on top of the zucchini to form another layer.
- Then, 2 cups of pumpkin sage sauce. Make sure that it is spread evenly over the spinach layer.
- Repeat the process! by adding a layer of noodles, then ricotta mixture, then mozzarella shreds, then zucchini, then spinach, then sauce.
- Sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella Shreds, topped by the remaining shredded parmesan. Arrange a few sliced zucchini, and sage leaves on the top.
- Place the lasagna in the oven for 60 minutes. Place foil over the top during the last 10 minutes so that the “cheese” on top does not burn.
- Remove from the oven when done and let rest for a half hour before serving.
Enjoy!
Printable Recipe
Pumpkin Sage Lasagna
Equipment
- baking pans, 1- 9 x 13, or 2- 8 x 8
- large pot
- coffee or spice grinder ( to grind flax seeds)
Ingredients
Pumpkin Sage Sauce
- 1 large onion,chopped 2- cups
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tsp chopped garlic
- 2 15-oz Can of Crushed tomatoes
- 2 15-oz Cans of Canned pumpkin Make sure you are not using sweetened pie filling!
- 1 15-oz can of coconut milk
- 1 cup water to thin sauce
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon pepper
- 3 Tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
- 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1/2 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 Teaspoon ground cinamon
- 2 Teaspoons chopped garlic
Ricotta Mixture
- 1 Tablespoon flax seed
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 2 Cups vegan ricotta I used Kite Hill Brand Almond Ricotta
- 1/2 Cup fresh parsley, chopped I used the flat leaf variety
- 1/4 Cup vegan parmesan I used Violife Brand
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 Teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1 Teaspoon fresh sage, finely chopped
- 1 Teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1/2 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 Tablespoons water If needed
Vegetables
- 4 Cups zucchini thinly sliced with peels on, about 4 medium sized.
- 2 Cups Fresh Spinach leaves stems removed.
Putting it all Together
- 9 Ounces Brown Rice Lasagna Noodles I used Jovial Brand
- 1 Pound Mozzarella Shreds I used 2- 8 OZ. packages of Violife Brand Mozzarella Shreds
- 2 Cups Vegan Parmesan, grated I used the Violife brand wedge
Instructions
Pumpkin Sage Sauce
- In a large skillet, add 1 Tablespoon of oil, and 2 cups of chopped onions and over medium heat. Cook until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the chopped garlic and stir to combine. Transfer onion mixture to a large pot.
- Add the remaining Ingredient to the pot with the onions. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
Ricotta Mixture
- Grind the flax seeds in a spice grinder or coffee grinder until it is a fine powder.
- Combine 3 Tablespoon of water with the flax seed and stir. Let the mixture set for 10 minutes. This mixture is known as a "flax egg." Set mixture aside yo be used in the ricotta mixture.
- Combine the vegan ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup of the grated vegan parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, sage, and rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic, and nutmeg. Add in the flax egg. If the mixture is especially stiff, add in water one Tablespoon at a time until the mixture is easy to spread.
- Set the ricotta mixture aside.
Vegetables
- Wash the zucchini and cut off the ends. Do not peel. Slice the zucchini into thin slices and set aside.
- Wash and dry the spinach leaves. Cut off the long stems. Set aside
Putting it all Together
- Heat the oven to 350°.
- In a 9 x 13 baking pan, Place one cup of pumpkin sage sauce in the bottom of the pan.
- Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.
- Spread a thin layer of the Ricotta mixture, about 2 Tablespoons, on each noodle.
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella shreds over the top of the noodles and ricotta.
- Place slices of zucchini in rows on top of the mozarella.
- Place a layer of spinach leaves, one leaf thick on top of the zucchini.
- Place a layer of pumpkin sage sauce on top of the spinach layer.
- Repeat the process by placing another layer each of the noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, shreds, zucchini and spinach to the pan.
- Sprinkle the top evenly with remaining 1/3 of the mozzarella shreds , and the remaining parmesan. Place a layer of thinly sliced zucchini, and sage leaves,on the top to serve as decoration.
- When the temperature reaches 350°, place the uncovered lasagna in the oven and set the timer for 60 minutes. Place foil over the top of the lasagna for the last ten minutes of baking.
- Let cool for a half an hour before cutting.
- Enjoy!
