I’ve lamented in previous posts that lasagne can be a bit of a faff to make, and whilst it is one of my top five all-time-favourite meals, I can’t always muster up the energy to make it. But now and again I have a burst of enthusiasm and make a batch of individual vegan lasagne for the freezer, ready to pop in the oven when I haven’t got the time or inclination to cook.
Here’s a recipe for just that sort of lasagne – this Roasted Squash & Creamy Pesto Vegan Lasagne freezes really well, and is a fun cooking project for a rainy Saturday afternoon, making you 8 individual dinners for cold winter nights to come.
Layers of sweet roasted butternut squash, a creamy (and vegan) pesto béchamel, and roasted cherry tomatoes pack this with flavour between the sheets, and a breadcrumb and pine nut topping give it a lovely crunchy top without the need for cheese.
Make & Freeze – Vegan Lasagne
These little foil trays are ideal for freezing individual portions. Make sure you label and date them clearly, (don’t assume you will remember what is in them – having just had a freezer spring clean I wish I had been a bit more diligent on labelling!!).
The lasagne will take about an hour to oven cook from frozen, or 20-25 minutes from fresh/defrosted, (if you’re organised enough to take one out of the freezer one the night before). Perfect with a crisp green salad and some garlic dough balls!
A creamy vegan lasagne with roasted squash, tomatoes and creamy pesto sauce. Perfect for a crowd-pleasing family meal or portioning up for the freezer.
- 2 large butternut squash (about 3kg)
- 800 g cherry tomatoes
- rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 2 tsp ready-chopped garlic or garlic purée
- 2 medium onions
- 1 courgette
- 50 g dairy-free margarine
- 5 tbsp plain flour
- 1 litre dairy-free milk (nut, oat or soya)
- handful spinach
- 3 tbsp dairy-free pesto
- 300 g lasagne sheets (check they are egg-free)
- 100 g breadcrumbs
- 8 tbsp pine nuts
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Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F / gas mark 6.
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Halve the squashes, scoop out the seeds, then peel (I use a potato peeler), and chop into chunks. Divide between two large baking trays, drizzle with oil, scatter with salt, pepper and 1 tsp garlic per tray, then toss together until all the pieces are evenly coated, and roast in the oven for 35 minutes until soft.
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Meanwhile, halve the cherry tomatoes, place on a third baking tray or roasting tin, drizzle with a little oil and scatter with salt and pepper, and roast for 20 minutes until soft. (If like me you don't have space in your oven for a third tray, you can roast these once the squash is ready).
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Whilst the vegetables are roasting, make the creamy pesto sauce. Peel and chop the onions. Heat the margarine in a large saucepan and add the onion. Cook gently for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Grate the courgette and add to the saucepan, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the courgette has released most of its liquid, and it has bubbled away.
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Stir through the flour, then pour in a little of the dairy-free milk and mix well. Cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the rest of the milk, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer until it becomes a thick, creamy sauce.
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Use a hand blender to blitz the sauce until smooth, then add the spinach and blitz again until it is finely chopped through the sauce. (If you don't have a hand blender, just skip this step and finly chop the spinach by hand). Finally, stir through the pesto, then taste, add more salt if required, taste again and keep adjusting until you are happy.
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When you are ready to assemble the lasagnes, take the trays of roasted squash, and mash them roughly with a potato masher or fork. They don't need to be smooth, it just makes them easier to spread.
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Take 8 small foil trays, then layer them with butternut squash, (1 tray of squash divided between the 8 trays), followed by a lasagne sheet (snapped down to size), followed by a layer of creamy sauce, then another lasagne sheet, more butternut squash, 6-8 roasted tomatoes per tray, another lasagne sheet, a final layer of creamy sauce, then a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and pine nuts.
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If you are cooking one or two of these straight away, cook for 25 minutes, or if cooking from frozen they will take about 1 hour.
Don’t forget to send me pictures of your very own vegan lasagne on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to show me how you got on!
If you like the look of this recipe, you might also enjoy my:
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There are plenty of quick and easy vegan recipes in my new book, ‘Vegan in 15‘*. Hop over to Amazon for a look. Thanks for your support!
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I’m linking this recipe with two blogger challenges:
- Meat Free Mondays hosted by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes
- Pasta Please hosted by Thinly Spread and Tinned Tomatoes
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Kayleigh N says
September 30, 2016 at 1:18 pmHi, what pesto do you use in this, red, green or something else? Many thanks!
thevegspace says
September 30, 2016 at 1:38 pmHi Kayleigh, I used a green dairy-free (basil) pesto, but you can use whichever you have to hand!
Chris @thinlyspread says
September 30, 2016 at 2:19 pmOh this looks delicious! I’m going to make a batch to pop in the freezer for Christmas when me lasagna loving vegan boy will be home from Berlin!
Chris @thinlyspread recently posted…Easy Mushroom Risotto – The Simplest Vegetarian Recipes
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
September 30, 2016 at 2:38 pmThis sounds insanely good, and I love the idea of freezing it in those little take away dishes – so convenient. Love those golden pine nuts on top!
kellie@foodtoglow says
September 30, 2016 at 4:44 pmWhat a fabulous idea for a post! I make butternut squash and spinach lasagne for work a lot (in dishes for 12) and often have enough to pop in the freezer for us. But I’ve never made a big batch JUST FOR US. Clever you having it in little foil dishes. I must add pesto to mine next time too. Great idea, Kate 🙂
Jacqueline Meldrum says
October 7, 2016 at 8:04 amI’m loving this lasagne Kate. I make a vegan cheese sauce for macaroni, but never think of making it for lasagne. I don’t know why not. Like your twist on a bechamel sauce. Thanks for entering this into Meat Free Mondays, the roundup is now live and the linky will be live for 2 weeks this time.
Jacqueline Meldrum recently posted…Meat Free Mondays – 7 Recipes for the Week Ahead (3 October 2016)
Monika Dabrowski says
October 7, 2016 at 1:55 pmThis dish looks stunning, I love eating food that has amazing colour! A great combination of ingredients, I am sure they taste gorgeous together:)
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs says
October 10, 2016 at 4:48 pmLove love love recipes like this that can be portioned up and placed in the freezer. I am definitely going to be making a big batch of these 😀
Andrea says
May 1, 2018 at 4:57 pmWhy do people give something 5 stars when they haven’t even made it? I agree that it looks amazing, but it would be more helpful if comments were made after trying the recipe out.
Lindsay Smith says
July 22, 2018 at 6:11 pmWe have just finished dinner. We all absolutely loved the tastes of this lasagne. Amazing!! I had most of a bag of baby spinach leaves left over from the recipe so I såutéd them with garlic as a side vegetable. The only downside to this recipe for me was that it took absolutely ages to peel and chop the butternut squash (I bought 4 medium ones because that’s all they had and they were quite hard to peel). I ran out of time because we were going to the cinema so I put it in the fridge ready to cook and we had veggie burgers (!!!). I took it out of the fridge and it took 1 hr 20 mins from cold, in the oven. I made one large lasagne and will freeze leftover portions and microwave them from frozen for a quick meal. If I had lots of time I would make it again. Thank you for the amazing recipe. Even Omni husband loved it!
Kate Ford says
July 23, 2018 at 11:37 amAh that’s great to hear Lindsay! Since publishing the recipe I’ve now come across frozen butternut squash chunks in most supermarkets – which save all the chopping and peeling. Lifesaver! Do look out for them if you’re making this again. Thanks for the feedback, Kate
Tajinder Lachhar says
August 12, 2018 at 3:25 pmHey there
I made this yesterday but based on a whole foods plant based diet (no oil no dairy no processed foods)
I removed the oil and put in water and balsamic vinegar. I don’t peel veg, I just made sure the butternut squash was roasted very well. Couldn’t find oil free pesto at the time so I went without. Didn’t use breadcrumbs.
Next time I would add spices to give it more flavour.
I would definitely make it again. Thank you for the recipe!