Butternut cheeze lasagna

Well, I officially perfected the cashew butternut cheeze lasagna I was working on.  And by perfected, I mean IT IS PERFECT.

It’s my new favorite dinner and it was pretty simple as far as lasagnas go.  And IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!

Kyle and I were basically oohing and aahing after every bite.  And P (who dislikes cashews) ate every last scrap without any idea that it was not a cream based sauce.

It has ground beef, so that’s already going to hook the kids.  And then the fresh pasta noodles!?!  Makes my life so easy!

This was my first time using fresh pasta, and normally I’d shy away from the price tag, but there were really no other GF options that weren’t pre-boil.

I am VERY anti pre boil.  Maybe in another life stage I will be cool with that extra work again, but for now, it’s a step too many and prevents me from making lasagna altogether.

Ok, so let’s get started.

First up, cashew cheeze.

This is not how I normally make cashew cheeze because it’s for this specific lasagna.  If I were making it for another purpose, I’d go the tamari, sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice/ACV route.  But this time, I was going for a butternut bechamel profile.

In Winter, you could roast your own butternut squash and take this to the next level.  But for now, you can cheat like I did and use a can of organic squash from TJs.  Why make your life hard?

I soaked the cashews for an hour in hot water, then drained them, then soaked them in new hot water for another 30 minutes and drained them a few more times.  You can probably get away with less soaking time but you may need more water when you go to blend it.  It’s forgiving, I promise.

After you’ve made the sauce, you can sauté the beef.  You can do them simultaneously too if you’re a go getter.  You can do it!!  Add plenty of salt.  It’s your friend.  Toss in some extra sage and thyme too, why not?

Ok, assembly time.

Start with olive oil and noodles on the bottom.  After that, it’s your canvas, do what you want in whatever order you want, making sure you have noodles frequently enough to bind it all.

Layering is pretty simple, just keep alternating until you run out of ingredients, so long as the last layer on top is cashew cheeze.  And be sure all noodles are adequately covered.

Don’t forget something green!  Frozen kale makes this a health food, obviously.  😛  Don’t even bother thawing it, just throw the frozen greens in a layer as is.

Continue layering…

And layering…

And then bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

WHOAAAAA BUDDY.

Now THAT is what I’m talking about!!

I hope you make this because it’s soooo good and really not as complicated as you’d think.  Lasagna always gets such a bad rap, in my opinion.  It’s really not that hard to make!

Butternut Squash Cheeze Lasagna [gluten free, dairy free]

Ingredients:

• 16 oz raw cashews, soaked in hot water (ideally for >1 hour)
• 4 cups water/broth/plain almond milk
• 1 15 oz can butternut squash puree
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp (divided)
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 12 oz fresh lasagna*
• 5 oz chopped kale

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Soak cashews in hot water for >1 hour.  Then drain and rinse once more.  Add ~4 cups of water to the cashews and blend until smooth.  Next add nutritional yeast, squash puree, sage, thyme and 1 1/2 tsp salt to the blender and blend again until smooth.

In a large sauté pan, cook ground beef, adding the rest of the salt.  Add more seasonings (thyme, sage) if desired.

Grease a 2.5 quart baking dish with olive oil and add a layer of noodles.

*If you are not using fresh pasta, you will either need to pre-boil your noodles or add additional cooking time to the written recipe depending on the packages instructions.

Continue layering, with ground beef, cheeze sauce, kale, noodles, etc. until you have no more ingredients.  End with cheeze sauce so that the whole casserole is very well covered.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Scoop AND FALL IN LOVE.

The End.