Following my parent’s footsteps – Pumpkin kale lasagne

Hey there!

If you happen to be following me on Instagram you would have heard about my goal for this autumn, which was to create a delicious veggie lasagne. At first I was going for a creation that resembles an ordinary one as closely as possible yet I then decided that this was rather boring and that it would be much more exciting to bring some new flavours into the world of lasagne recipes.

After my mum brought home a bunch of kale last weekend I decided that it was time for another try at creating the perfect lasagne. Although the outcome tasted truly amazing I wasn’t able to take pictures. Those of you who don’t have a food blog themselves will probably think why on earth I couldn’t take photos yet the other half of you will surely understand. I mean you just can’t take photos in yellow lighting and as it has been getting darker earlier and earlier every day and I obviously do not usually eat and cook dinner at four o’clock I tend to finish dinner way to late to take a picture. I know this didn’t bother me a year ago but after blogging for a whole year my idea of a nice picture has definitely change. Oh well I guess I really need to invest in some good lighting I am just a tad overwhelmed with all the different lights I could get plus this stuff isn’t cheap either and I happen to be a student and student’s as we all know usually haven’t got heaps of spare money to spend…

Anyways back to my lasagne creation, so for the sake of today’s post I actually got cooking in the afternoon to pre-shot my lasagne and then eat it later on for dinner.

As I mentioned at the beginning of today’s post I used kale for this creation though I went for another very autumnally flavour which is not surprisingly my beloved pumpkin.

I also recently discovered that by processing tofu, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor you actually end up with a concoction tasting surprisingly similar to ricotta cheese. If you happen to enjoy eating dairy products you could probably also substitute my tofu ricotta mixture with ordinary ricotta yet I honestly suggest you to give it a go. It will definitely blow your mind because it tastes so similar and also truly delicious plus you can actually not even taste that you are dealing with tofu anymore. Just in case you don’t fancy tofu all that much.

Well I guess by now you’re very much interested in getting o know the secret to my genius creation so guess what, I might as well give it to you.

• 1 pumpkin (1.5 kg), steamed and pureed with 300 ml of water
• 300g kale, roughly chopped and washed
• 500g tofu
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 1tbs finely chopped rosemary
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 30ml lemon juice
• 2tbs almond butter, mixed with 150ml of water and seasoned with salt and pepper
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• approx. 12 lasagne sheets

1. Pour some olive oil into a frying pan and add the chopped onion and the chopped garlic as well as the rosemary. Fry over medium heat until the onion has softened.
2. Add the finely sliced carrots to the pan and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Then add the kale and cover with a lid until it has wilted completely. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile you can add your tofu, lemon juice, approx. 1tsp salt and pepper to a food processor and process until smooth and the consistency resembles ricotta cheese. Depending on how watery your tofu is you can also add some additional water. I poured in about 160 ml. Just pour in however much you need to achieve the ricotta like consistency.
4. Season your pumpkin puree with salt and pepper.
5. By now your kale should have completely wilted and you can add your tofu ricotta to the kale mixture and mix it until well combined.
6. Preheat your oven to 200°C
7. Start layering your lasagne. Start with a layer of pumpkin puree, continue with lasagne sheets and then the kale mixture and start all over again until you’ve used up all the pumpkin puree and the kale mixture. I ended up having three pasta layers and I finished off with the kale mixture and the pumpkin puree. Last but not least evenly pour your almond butter mixture over the top of the lasagne.
8. Bake your lasagne for approx. 40 minutes at 200°C.
9. After 40 minutes your lasagne will have come together perfectly and trust me it’ll taste like heaven.

Voila, the most delicious vegan lasagne perfect for those cold autumn evenings. This is seriously one of my most genius creations so far. I know I always love what I cook, I mean why would I cook something that I don’t like, would be kind of stupid, wouldn’t it?

But believe me I have made and eaten many lasagne in my life and my parents are indeed one of the most talented lasagne chefs in the world. Though I have never actually tasted a vegan lasagne they made but they’re ordinary Bolognese lasagne tastes probably just as amazing as the one I just created today. The best chefs we know, people who can make you anything from the best tart tatin to a delicious saffron risotto even approve of this lasagne so it must be good right?

Well the only little issue being though that I don’t eat meat anymore hence I started experimenting with vegan/vegetarian lasagne recipes a while ago. Anyways all I wanted to make clear with this little anecdote is that I definitely know what good lasagne should taste like, so if I say a lasagne is good you’ll probably find it amazing and I mean the one I just created tastes amazing in my opinion so you’ll probably be blown away if you ever happen to try this recipe.

That’s it guys, enjoy your Sunday night! I’ll spend mine writing an analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18… Wish me luck!

Bisous