You don't have to be celebrating Passover to enjoy this gourmet dish, though it is a phenomenal alternative to those less-than-pleasurable foods you typically eat during the Jewish holiday. If you've had it up to your eyeballs with matzo pizza and the ever-so-boring buttered cracker, you'll be delighted by this layered lasagna. The scrumptious vegan dish uses matzo for noodles, and then gets packed with spinach, mushrooms, cashew ricotta cheese and homemade pesto. This is one matzo recipe you'll want to enjoy well beyond Seder dinner.
Ingredients
Vegan Pesto
2 cups packed basil leaves
4 garlic cloves
3/4 cups pine nuts
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, optional
Salt, to taste
Cashew Ricotta
1-1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 garlic clove
Salt & black pepper, to taste
Filling
4 matzo sheets
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 garlic, chopped
1-1/2 cups finely chopped spinach
1-1/4 cups finely chopped mushroom
1 tsp. dried oregano
Salt & black pepper, to taste
Directions
- In blender, combine pesto ingredients. Set aside.
- To prepare cashew ricotta, combine ingredients in food processor and pulse until ricotta consistency is reached. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In sauté pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Add garlic, spinach and mushrooms. Add salt, pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes until mixture dries out a little.
- Combine spinach-mushroom mixture with prepared cashew ricotta. Add oregano and mix. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide pesto and cashew ricotta into three parts. (To make the cashew sauce garnish, reserve 2 tablespoons cashew ricotta and mix it with little lemon juice and dilute with non-dairy milk or water.)
- In a casserole dish, spread on a layer of pesto and place a matzo sheet on top. Layer on cashew ricotta. Continue layering by alternating with mazto sheets, pesto and ricotta, finishing with pesto sauce on top. Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top (optional).
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake 35-40 minutes. Drizzle cashew sauce on top and serve.
Still hungry? Here are 5 more foods we're enjoying this Passover.
