Plant-Based Lasagna Roll-Ups

I come from a family that loves some Italian food. Saying goodbye to all cheesy and filling dishes would have been so sad.

Luckily, plants have an answer for that! This dish has a cashew ricotta-like filling that is close to the real thing in both TEXTURE and TASTE!

This is another one of those meals that is great to make when your meat-eating friends are coming over. As with all lasagna dishes, it takes a little time to prepare. It can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.

P.S. I think this dish would be great with some mushrooms added to the "ricotta" mix. Sadly, they are still a no-go in terms of my kids eating the dish so I do not include them. I'm going to wear them down eventually!

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Plant-Based Lasagna Roll-Ups

(feeds a family of 5, makes 14-16 roll-ups)

INGREDIENTS:

-1 lb. lasagna noodles

-1 24 oz jar of marinara sauce

-8 oz spinach

-2 cups raw soaked cashews

-Optional: 1 cup mushrooms (finely chopped)

-1 tsp salt

-1 tsp oregano

-1 tsp onion powder

-1/4 cup nutritional yeast

-1-3 garlic cloves minced

-Juice of 1 lemon

-1/4 cup plant-based milk

-1 cup fresh basil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak cashews either overnight or quick soak in hot water for 30 minutes and strain.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Coat bottom of large baking dish with 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce.

4. Cook lasagna noodles according to package. Dry on parchment paper and set aside.

5. Put spinach in food processor and chop finely. Place in mixing bowl and set aside.

6. Combine salt, oregano, onion powder, nutritional yeast, garlic cloves, plant milk and cashews in food processor and blend until smooth ricotta-like texture is formed.

7. Combine cashew mixture with spinach and mushrooms in mixing bowl and stir well.

8. Spoon mixture onto noodles (approximately 2 TBSP per noodle)