I don’t eat dairy anymore, and for the most part, I really haven’t missed it all that much.  But every once in awhile, I get a hankering for something gooey, cheesy, and delicious.  Those hankerings usually lead to creative and tasty recipes.  This one is no different.  You might be thinking to yourself, “There is no way that you can have a delicious lasagna without wonderfully yummy ricotta cheese.”  And I say to you, nay nay.  You can have a delicious lasagna without wonderfully yummy ricotta.  Just ask my husband who has no problem with dairy and would love it if there were more of it in the house (there’s none).  He loved this meal and devoured second helpings.  I may have too…

 

Dairy Free Lasagna 

• 1 batch of my tomato sauce, or store bought sauce (just make sure to read the ingredients!)
• 1 package of lasagna noodles (I used brown rice to keep it gluten free but whole wheat would work well too)
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 to 2 tsp italian seasoning
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic

*If you’re using my tomato sauce, you can prepare it ahead of time and store in the refrigerator.  That way you can just assemble everything.

1.  Cook noodles according to instructions on the package.  Once cooked drain and set aside to cool a little bit.  You might want to undercook your noodles just a little so they won’t turn to mush when you cook them in the oven.

2.  While the noodles are cooling, drain soaked cashews and place into a blender or food processor.  Add in water, lemon, salt, rice vinegar, italian seasoning, and garlic.  Pulse to combine everything and then let it run to smooth everything out.  You can leave it a little chunky or totally smooth, it’s your preference.

3.  Preheat oven to 375 and get out a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Line up the tomato sauce, noodles, and cashew cheese for easy assembly.  Pour a little tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan so the noodles don’t burn.  Then put a layer of noodles down, then a layer of cheese, and finally a layer of tomato sauce.  Keep layering everything until you run out of noodles.  You might have a little cheese and sauce leftover, that’s fine  You can use it to dress up another dish!

4.  Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and take of the aluminum foil.  Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.  Take lasagna out of the oven and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes (this helps it set so when you cut it, it doesn’t fall apart).  Cut into squares and eat up!

 

This lasagna tastes even better the next day once the flavors have melded and really set.  So make sure that you leave some leftovers for later!