A good meatless lasagna is worth its weight in gold. It’s the kind of meal that the whole family will love. A dinner that can be made in advance. And a meal with leftovers you can freeze, giving you dinner for another day too. What’s not to like, right?

If umami flavors are your thing, you’re going to love this vegan Mushroom & Sage Lasagna. Gluten-free noodles are layered with a savory kale-and-nut mixture, an herbaceous creamy cashew sauce, heaps of glorious mushrooms, and the traditional tomato sauce. It’s a feast of different flavors and textures and it’s the type of recipe that you can bring to a party or make for a family dinner.

The recipe comes from Heather Crosby’s YumUniverse Pantry to Plate, a plant-based cookbook that, while containing recipes, is designed to empower readers to invent their own meals with what they have on hand at home. If you feel too intimidated to create your own recipes, this is the book you need! This lasagna, for example, comes from a section on Cheesy Comfort Food, with a template for creating a creamy sauce from a variety of different pantry ingredients.

Other templates include Dips & Spreads, Crackers, Warm Cereals, Veggie Fries and Nice Creams. This book makes a fabulous gift for the vegan in your life who’s just learning to cook or for experienced cooks that are new to a plant-based diet.

Grab the Mushroom & Sage Lasagna recipe below and purchase YumUniverse Pantry to Plate: Improvise Meals You Love―from What You Have!―Plant-Packed, Gluten-Free, Your Way! by Heather Crosby on Amazon.

Mushroom & Sage Lasagna

Credit line: Recipe from YumUniverse Pantry to Plate © Heather Crosby, 2017. Photographs copyright © Heather Crosby, 2017. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com

Course Main Dishes

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

½ cup 70 g raw, unsalted almonds
¼ cup 25 g raw, unsalted pecans
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unrefined coconut oil
1¼ teaspoons sea salt plus more to taste
Fresh-cracked black pepper
Pinch of fresh-ground nutmeg
3 large leaves kale chopped into small pieces
1 9-ounce (255 g) package gluten-free lasagna noodles
2½ cups 340 g cashews, soaked 4 to 6 hours, drained, and rinsed
1½ cups 360 ml water
½ cup 65 g pine nuts, toasted
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
5 to 6 sage leaves
1½ pounds 680 g cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 large shallots sliced or diced (about 1 cup/80 g)
1 tablespoon Sucanat or coconut palm sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons dry white wine optional
2 24-ounce (680 g) jars pasta sauce

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). In a food processor, pulse together the almonds, pecans, 1 teaspoon of the oil, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, a few grinds of pepper, and the nutmeg until dusty. Add the kale and pulse 3 times.
Prepare the noodles according to the box instructions—layer them in rows on sheets of parchment to keep the noodles from sticking to each other.
Make a cashew cream sauce by blending the cashews, water, pine nuts, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the sage until smooth; set aside.
Place the remaining 2 teaspoons oil, the mushrooms, shallots, Sucanat, and a pinch of salt in a skillet heated to medium. Stir occasionally for 7 to 10 minutes, until they caramelize and brown. Add the wine (if using), stir for 2 more minutes or until it cooks off, and remove from the heat.
Add 3 spoonfuls of tomato sauce into a lasagna pan; spread it around and top with noodles side by side. Spread a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce and cashew cream sauce over the noodles. Sprinkle with the mushrooms, season the layer with a pinch of salt and fresh pepper, then top with another layer of noodles. Repeat these steps, seasoning each layer with a pinch of salt and pepper, until all the noodles, sauces, and mushrooms are used. Sprinkle with the almond-pecan-kale topping, cover with parchment, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and bake 20 more minutes until bubbling.