Vegan lasagna with pumpkin and mushroom

Vegan lasagna with pumpkin and mushroom

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom cut

A short and sweet post from me today as I have an old friend making an impromptu visit this weekend and I still have heaps to do before I pick her up from the train station… A house to clean, supplies to buy, bedding to change…you get the gist. I’m really excited to see her as we don’t get to hang out very often. She has never been to Bristol before so we will probably spend most our time wandering around town, but I made some emergency comfort food if we get bored of eating out.

I made a tray of autumn-inspired comfort food that I am keen to share with you. It’s my seasonal take on lasagna featuring some of my favourite autumn flavours – pumpkin and mushrooms. It’s a true flavour bomb and there are no tomatoes in sight, something that certainly sets it apart from traditional lasagna.

Instead of tomato sauce, I’ve made a delicious silky smooth pumpkin sauce with some caramelised chunks of pumpkin thrown in for some texture. The mince layer is made up of a mountain of mushrooms and some lentils for some bite and extra protein, which you can also replace with chopped up roasted walnuts if you prefer. The whole thing is crowned with a layer of indulgent béchamel sauce cos being vegan doesn’t mean you’ve got to lead a monk-like lifestyle…(contrary to what the general public believes veganism means 😉 ).

Like any lasagna, this isn’t a speedy dish to make on a Friday night after work, but something you may want to make on the weekend or when you are expecting guests. It has three distinct components, all of which can be made in advance and refrigerated – in fact, the finished product will taste better for it. It does take a bit of time to put this dish together, but I hope you’ll enjoy the process as much as the end result.

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom ingredients

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom prep

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom layering

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom bechamel

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom baked

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom portioning

vegan lasagna pumpkin mushroom slice out

makes
9-12
PREP
45 min
COOKING
90 min
makes
9-12
PREPARATION
45 min
COOKING
90 min
INGREDIENTS

PUMPKIN LAYER

  • 1 kg / 35 oz peeled and cubed firm pumpkin / squash
  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 heads of garlic
  • 360 ml / 1½ cups almond milk
  • 5 fresh sage leaves
  • 20 ml / 4 tsp lemon juice, to taste
  • pinch of chilli (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

MUSHROOM MINCE

  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 banana shallots, finely diced
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 15 fresh sage leaves
  • 750 g / 26½ oz chestnut / cremini mushrooms, cleaned
  • 15 ml / 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp red miso
  • 120 ml / ½ cup red wine
  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
  • 225 g / 1½ cups cooked firm lentils* (I like Puy)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 500 g / 17½ oz vegan lasagne sheets

BECHAMEL (or alternative bechamel)

  • 780 ml / 3¼ cups oat milk (I recommend Oatly original) or other plant milk
  • 1 head of roasted garlic cloves
  • 2 tsp white miso paste
  • 80 ml / 1/3 cup mild olive oil (or 100 g / 3½ oz vegan butter)
  • 85 g / 2/3 cup AP flour (or GF flour mix)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • salt to taste
  • ¼ tsp pepper, adjust to taste
  • freshly ground nutmeg, to taste

METHOD
PUMPKIN LAYER

  1. Preheat the oven to 220° C / 425° F.
  2. Stir 5 tsp of olive oil through cubed pumpkin, season it lightly and spread on a large baking tray.
  3. Cut the top of the garlic head(s) off with a knife. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil and place in amongst the pumpkin.
  4. Bake for about 30 minutes, giving the pumpkin a stir halfway through and removing the garlic heads as soon as they are soft all the way through.
  5. Put 2/3 of the pumpkin in a blender, together with plant milk, squeezed out garlic cloves from ½-1 garlic head (adjust to taste), sage leaves and blend until smooth.
  6. Season with lemon juice, chilli (if using), salt and pepper.
  7. Chop the rest of the pumpkin pieces finely.

MUSHROOM MINCE

  1. Heat up olive oil in a large, heavy-bottom pan. Once the oil starts shimmering, add diced shallots and sauté, on a low-medium heat, until translucent and only just caramelised (about 15 minutes). Skip to step 3.
  2. Add in the garlic and finely chopped up sage and fry for a few more minutes, until fragrant.
  3. While the shallots are sautéing, dice your mushrooms roughly. You can use a food processor but it’s too easy to overprocess them so I prefer to chop them by hand.
  4. Once the onion-garlic mixture is ready, add diced mushrooms in three batches so that you don’t overcrowd the pan. As soon as the first batch is cooked (turns dark brown), add the next.
  5. Once all the mushrooms are cooked, season them with smoked paprika, red miso, balsamic and a generous amount of pepper. Allow all the water to cook out.
  6. Add in wine and allow the alcohol taste to cook out before adding in soy sauce and cooked lentils.
  7. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, plus add approximately ½ cup (120 ml) of water and ¼ cup (4 tbsp) of pumpkin sauce to make sure the filling has enough moisture.

BECHAMEL

  1. Heat up the milk. Blend roasted garlic cloves and miso paste with 120 ml / ½ cup of the oat milk allocated for the béchamel sauce.
  2. Slowly heat up olive oil in a large saucepan (stainless steal works best for this). Once the oil starts to shimmer, sprinkle in flour while whisking to avoid lumps.
  3. Allow the fat-flour mixture (known as ‘roux’) to bubble gently on low-medium heat for a whole minute, whisking the whole time. Don’t let it brown.
  4. Take the pot off the heat and slowly pour in warmed plant milk first, milk blended with roasted garlic second, while whisking the whole time. Initially the mixture may look a bit lumpy – don’t worry, it will recover once all the milk has been whisked in. .
  5. Return the pot to the stove. Simmer only just enough for the sauce to thicken slightly, to a consistency of cream. Season with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° F (or 160° C / 320° F on a fan setting).
  2. Pour a tablespoon of water on the bottom of the tray, followed by about a scant cup (200 ml) of the pumpkin sauce at the bottom of the dish, cover it tightly with a layer of pasta.
  3. Spread half of the mushroom mince on top of the pasta and cover it tightly with a layer of pasta.
  4. Next spread the rest of the pumpkin sauce and scatter chopped pumpkin on top, season lightly. Cover it tightly with a layer of pasta.
  5. Spread the rest of the mushroom mince on top and cover it tightly with a layer of pasta.
  6. Finally, spread bechamel on top.
  7. Bake for about 30 minutes, then increase the oven temperature to 220° C / 425° F for the last 10 minutes of baking time to speed up browning.
  8. Allow the dish to set for at least an hour or else the slices will come out messy, although I do recommend waiting to consume until the following day – the flavours will mellow and the dish will taste even better. Store the leftovers for up to 5 days in the fridge or freeze in airtight containers.

NOTES
*LENTILS: If you cook your lentils from scratch, you’ll need approximately 150 g / ¾ cup of dry lentils. You could also use chopped (roasted ideally) walnuts instead of you prefer.

The baking dish I used is a square 25 cm / 10″ dish, but another shape dish of similar surface area will work just as well.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
385
19%
sugars
12 g
14%
fats
11 g
15%
saturates
1 g
7%
proteins
12 g
25%
carbs
61 g
23%
*per serving
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5.0
9 reviews, 9 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Pauline:
This is definitely a labour of love lasagne but worth the effort. The mushroom mince is amazing, I could easily make this on its own to have with pasta or in a pie. I didn't have quite enough pumpkin so added a sweet potato to the sauce which worked fine. Also, I've never thought to put water in the bottom of the pan with the first lasagne sheet before but what a top tip! The whole family enjoyed this. Thanks
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Pauline, I am delighted to hear that this recipe went down so well with you and your family. I agree, it's not a quick dish to make, but then no lasagne is :) PS: if you enjoyed my mushroom layer, you might enjoy this mushroom pasta (one of my personal favourites). x Ania
Doris:
Thank you , Ania! For the second Thanksgiving in a row I made one of your recipes, and this year was this lasagna. Wonderful!
Looking forward to your cookbook 😉
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thanks so much Doris. I am honoured that you chose my dishes to make for your Thanksgiving meal two years in a row and I am delighted that you enjoyed it! Thank you and also I really appreciate you taking the time to review - it helps me a lot. x Ania
    Hahaha, yes, the cookbook is going to happen at some point :) x
Charlotte:
This was so good! We made it for meat- eating and vegan friends at the at the weekend and it was delicious. Thank you Ania. Do you think it would work well as freezer food, so that I can make in advance and eat at a later date?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Charlotte,
    I'm delighted to hear that it went down well with your guests, including non-vegans! Yes, it freezes fine so absolutely making in advance is a great idea. Thank you for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Monica:
Delicious! We’ve made it a few times and love it. Takes a bit of prep, but is worth the effort. One of our new favorite ways to use all the butternut squash we grew.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, that's so lovely to hear. Yes, lasagna is not a quick dish to make but I am so glad to hear that you think it's worth the effort and with a homegrown butternut squash (so jealous!), it must taste extra special. x Ania
Helen:
This was so tasty! I cheated a bit as I had a jar of sacla white sauce but otherwise followed the recipe. So so yummy that we can't stop thinking about it and are thinking about when we're going to make it next!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thank you so much Helen! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed it so much. And I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this lovely review, thank you. x Ania
Maureen:
I already left a review but...it's been a couple of weeks now and eventhough I've been making this once a week, we really aren't getting tired of it! (I do add lentils though - I don't know why this suddenly has disappeared from the ingredients list?)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear that it's become such a favourite with you and your family, Maureen. And don't worry, lentils are still there - must have been a glitch. x Ania
Camille:
Thank you for this recipe! It was really really really good <3
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear, Camille! And thank you for taking the time to leave this review - I really appreciate it! x Ania
Maureen Sakurai:
This recipe is going to become one of our family's go-to recipes for fall! Everything is to love about it!
The flavours, the umami, and nobody noticed it was lentils (we're not fans of lentils! hahahaha)
It was perfect for us three and for extra serving the next day
Absolutely charmed!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Maureen! And I am sorry if that's a late reply (I wonder if my reply got lost when we migrated to the new website…I apologise if I missed it). Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to let me know that you and your family enjoyed this dish. I really appreciate it. Ania
Patrycja:
Aniu I have made this dish with little amendments yesterday. We eat lots of pasta with my husband although is Spanish not Italian! And this is another keeper. It’s is absolutely delicious. I love your blog, your ideas and your taste. Please keep going as you are doing a wonderful job. And maybe it would be good to think about a book?
Thank you again!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thank you for your kind words, Patrycja! I'm so happy to hear that both you and my husband enjoyed this dish and some other of my recipes - so nice to hear! A book, hahah, yes, I have STARTED thinking...but it may take a while yet :P . x Ania
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