Vegan & Gluten-Free Classic Spinach Lasagne

I usually make lasagne's by feel, I rarely write them down. So when someone saw this version I made in a recent YouTube video and asked for the recipe, I had to get it down! It's my current way to make a more meaty lasagne. It's got a thick layer of wilted spinach and creamy, fluffy béchamel made with a roux and a cornflour-slurry for the optimal voluminous texture.

Low FODMAP: omit the onion (or swap for chopped spring onions), omit or cut back on the mushrooms and use a passata that's free of high FODMAP ingredients

INGREDIENTS

• 500g frozen spinach (defrosted and drained) OR 120g fresh baby spinach (wilted)
• 1 x box gluten-free lasagne sheets (fresh or dried)

Meat Sauce

• generous glug extra-virgin garlic olive oil
• knob dairy-free butter
• 1 carrot, very finely chopped
• 1/2 onion, very finely chopped
• 1 stick celery, very finely chopped
• 4 Swiss brown button mushrooms, very finely chopped
• 1 x 340g packet Impossible Mince (or similar)
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 500g passata (+ 2/3 cup water swizzled around the empty jar)
• handful parsley, very finely chopped
• 6 black pitted olives, very finely chopped
• 1 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
• pepper, to season

Béchamel

• 40g (2 tbsp-sized knobs) dairy-free butter
• small drizzle extra-virgin garlic olive oil
• 2 tbsp plain gluten-free flour blend
• 275ml (1 1/2 cups) soy milk (I used Boysoy, but any unsweetened or lightly sweetened soy milk will work)
• 1 heaped tsp cornflour (also known as cornstarch)
• 2 tbsp coconut cream OR coconut milk
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp vegetarian chicken flavoured stock powder (I used Massel)
• pinch ground nutmeg
• salt & pepper, to season
• handful grated dairy-free cheese

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/360F.
2. Defrost and prepare the spinach, set aside.
3. To make the Meat Sauce, melt the knob of butter into the garlic olive oil in a medium-large pot or pan. Once melted, add the carrot, onion and celery and sauté for a few minutes until starting to soften. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook down until the mushrooms have softened and their juices have evaporated.
4. Remove the pan's contents to a bowl or plate and add another drizzle of oil (if desired) to the pan. Add the Impossible Mince and break up into chunks. Don't fuss over the mince too much, some char and colour is welcome. Once golden, break up into smaller chunks and continue to brown until mostly no pink mince remains.
5. Add the sautéed vegetables back to the pan, add the diced tomatoes and stir around occasionally for a few minutes until the tomatoes have softened and released their juices. Add the passata and water (from swizzling out the jar), parsley, olives, nutritional yeast and pepper (it doesn't need salt, it's salty enough from the mince and tomatoes) and stir everything to combine. Make sure to get all the flavour off the bottom of the pan. Bring to the bubble then reduce to simmer for 10–20 minutes.
6. For the Béchamel, melt the butter and garlic olive oil in a medium saucepan or pot. Add the flour, stir to combine (if it splits, that's ok) and cook off for a couple of minutes. Add a splash of soy milk and stir to combine. Repeat this splash and stir method with half the soy milk. It will likely look quite lumpy (that's because of the gluten-free flour), so to mitigate this I do the following. Transfer the started-white sauce and the remaining soy milk to a blender (or use a stick blender) and blend until smooth and frothy. Transfer back to the pan and stir with a whisk or spatula over medium-high heat until any frothy bubbles have disappeared and the mixture has thickened.
7. To thicken the Béchamel further, whisk the coconut milk and cornflour together with a whisk until smooth. Add this slurry to the Béchamel and keep stirring constantly until thickened further (it will only take a minute or two). Turn off the heat and add the nutritional yeast, stock powder, nutmeg, salt & pepper and cheese. Mix until combined. It's okay if the cheese hasn't melted completely, it will in the oven.
8. Build your lasagne with the lasagne sheets, Meat Sauce, prepared spinach and Béchamel. You can finish the lasagne with a drizzle of oil and some more cheese if desired, but the dish will have a lovely golden finish either way.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Sit for 10+ minutes before slicing and serving. Buon appetito!