Creamy Vegan Mushroom Lasagna

Ingredients

• Olive, grape seed, or coconut oil, or veggie broth for sautéing
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 16 ounces mushrooms, chopped (you can use a mix of different mushrooms)
• 1 tablespoon tamari or coconut aminos
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for a few hours (overnight is best), drained
• 1 cup veggie broth
• 2 big handfuls spinach
• 10 ounces gluten-free lasagna noodles (I use Tinkyada's brown rice version)
• 4 cups marinara sauce, store-bought (a 32-oz jar) or homemade
• Nutritional yeast (optional)

Steps

1. Set the oven to 350ºF to preheat.
2. Warm a glug of oil or veggie broth over medium heat in a large skillet. Once the pan is hot, sauté the garlic until fragrant, about a minute. Add the mushrooms, tamari and thyme. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring about every minute, or until the mushrooms give off their water and a little broth begins forming.
3. In a high-speed blender, blend the cashews with the veggie broth until entirely smooth; this can take up to 5 minutes according to the blender's power and speed. Pour the sauce into the mushroom pan and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer for a couple minutes, stirring often, until the sauce thickens. Add the spinach and stir for another minute.
4. Follow the package directions to prepare the lasagna noodles, doing so only once the mushroom sauce is ready. This keeps the noodles from waiting too long and sticking together.
5. In an 8-by-11-inch baking dish, spread a third of the marinara over the bottom. Layer noodles over it, then cover with half the mushroom cream. Add another noodle layer and cover it with another third of the marinara. Spread the remaining mushroom cream over that, add the final noodle layer, and cover with the remaining marinara.
6. Bake the lasagna covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes. Take off the foil, sprinkle nutritional yeast on top if desired, and bake 15 minutes more. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes before serving.