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Pumpkin Lasagna

Serves 4 | Prep 25 mins | Cook 50 mins

Lasagna brings back a lot of childhood memories of Mum making us her delicious version. While my recipe is not a traditional lasagna, I love that I can still achieve the same flavours, and with all the nourishment in this dish I feel really good after eating it. My version is for those who might get digestive upset from gluten and dairy, so I’ve exchanged the pasta sheets for sliced pumpkin, and if your health food store has them you can also use konjac lasagne sheets. They are a gluten free alternative. This lasanga stores beautifully in the fridge for up to 3 days or you can freeze for later.

  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 500 g beef mince (or you can do half beef half lamb; or chicken)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 3 cups mixed chopped vegetables (eg. carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, spinach)
  • 1 tbsp fresh oregano
  • 500 g tomato based sauce (eg. basil and oregano)
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • ¼ butter nut pumpkin, sliced into “sheets”
  • 1 cup cashews, soaked in water for 4 hours, then drained
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp basil, chopped
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 1 packet of konjac lasagne sheets (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit)

  2. In a large pot over medium to high heat, place the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic in the for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften.

  3. Add in the mince, sprinkle with salt and using a wooden spoon to break the meat up so it doesn’t stick together. Cook for approximately 10 minutes until the meat begins to brown.

  4. Once the meat is cooked through stir in the chopped mixed vegetables, oregano, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Turn heat down and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

  5. In a high speed blender or processor combine the cashews, garlic, nutmeg and almond milk and blend until as smooth as possible, there should be no small chunks. Stir through the chopped fresh basil.

  6. In a 13 x 9 large baking dish (or similar) spoon in a layer of the meat sauce. Place the konjac lasagne sheets (if you can find them in a health food store, otherwise you can leave it out and just use the pumpkin), then sliced butternut pumpkin, followed by another layer of the meat sauce. Repeat layering approximately 2 more times and finish with a layer of cashew sauce on top (you could also double the recipe of the cashew cheese if you wanted to put it within the layers and do a thinner layer of the cashew sauce).

  7. Bake in the oven for approximately 50 minutes until a golden brown crust has formed. The pumpkin should be tender. Keep an eye on the lasagna while it bakes to ensure it doesn’t brown too quickly on top. Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.