Squash and Kale Vegan Lasagna Roll Ups
Like normal lasagna, but neater, tastier, and more vegan! These vegan lasagna roll ups and totally enrobed in a silky, sweet and savory, golden squash sauce. Inside is a super simple and tasty almond-based cheese, somewhat reminiscent of ricotta. Sautéed kale and mushrooms are also in each roll, but they don’t make these rolls at all watery like greens sometimes make a lasagna. Make more than you think you need- each bite is so delicious and satisfying, you’ll definitely be going back for seconds, maybe thirds.
Skip the Post, Click for a Print-Friendly Recipe!
Eating Winter Squash
We are lucky enough to live in a world where fresh produce can still be shipped in after the ground freezes, and while I certainly take advantage of that, I try and plan plenty of meals around winter staples. Root vegetables, like beets, potatoes, onions, rutabaga, and more can last for months in a cellar. Cabbages can also survive for months as well, and kale can survive through the winter in many areas. In you need some fruit, apples are a great option for a Fall crop that can extend into the winter. My favorite hearty winter food is, of course, winter squash. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with varied textures, and flavors. From fist-sized carnival squash to 35 lb. blue hubbard squash, stringy spaghetti squash to super sweet honeynut squash, the squash diversity is tremendous. To store your winter squash best in the winter, try and find a cool, dark, dry place, where the temperature remains around 50°F (10°C). Different varieties have different shelf-lives, but butternut and acorn squash will last for quite a while. For these vegan lasagna roll ups, we use our squash in the sauce. I used a combination of squashes- some honeynut and some acorn, with a little bit of some totally unknown squash. Whatever squash tastes good to you, go for it. If you want your sauce to be more orange than yellow, make sure to choose a more orange variety. You want a smooth sauce- a good blender will probably get you there no matter what, but the fun texture of a spaghetti squash would be wasted here.
Looking for Squash Recipes? Try one of these!
- Kabocha Squash Vegan Tempura Sushi Roll
- Warming Vegan Stew with Squash and Cardamom
- Maple Butternut Squash Dessert Crepes
- Roasted Chestnut Crabapples and Kabocha Squash
- Kabocha Squash and Cheese Vegan Pupusas
- Cold Weather Cabbage Soup with Butternut Squash and Turmeric
- Tomato Masala Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Corn and Spinach
- Kabocha Squash Soup with Sunflower Seed Cream
- Wild Rice, Chili and Cacao Nib Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Vegan Squash Mac and Cheeze with Curried Okra
How to Make Vegan Lasagna Roll Ups
These lasagna roll ups have a few components, and the order you make them in doesn’t matter too much- let’s go into each of them a little.
- The sauce: the sauce is made with winter squash, along with some herbs, spices, and vegetable broth. It’s made with a little sautéing, and then blended totally smooth in the blender. It can be made ahead of time if you like. If you’re into meal prep, I very much recommend making a double batch of it- the second have can be poured over noodles or a different grain for a super simple supper later in the week.
- The almond cheese: is our version of the most basic ricotta. It can also be made in advance if you like. It’s all made in the blender. Keep in mind that your almonds need to be softened and have the skins removed, so there is a little bit of work to do before it gets blended. You can save yourself some work here by starting with blanched almonds!
- The filling: the filling probably shouldn’t be made too much ahead of time. It’s a simple sauté of mushrooms and kale, and it really adds a bit of texture to the rolls.
After your elements are made, make sure you get your pasta cooked too. Since noodles do sometimes break, and you want 12 good noodles to roll with, consider making 15 or more. Now it’s assembly time! Spread, roll, and sauce. After that, it’s time to bake your noodles. Keep them covered, so that the sauce doesn’t dry out and crack too much. I have not tried it, but I imagine once the dish is assembled it would freeze well- just make sure to bake it longer to fully defrost the dish. Serve, and enjoy!
Squash and Kale Vegan Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large cremini mushrooms, diced
- 1 bunch of kale, chopped
- 12+ lasagna noodles
- Olive oil, for cooking
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups blanched almonds
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups cooked squash
- ½ onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp. herbs de province
- 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. white miso paste
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup vegetable broth
Instructions
- To make the almond cheese you need to first soften your almonds. You can either place them in water and let them soak overnight, or let them boil for around 30 minutes, or you can pressure cook them for about 15 minutes. If they do not already have the skins removed, do so and discard the skin. Place the almonds, apple cider vinegar, salt, coconut oil, and ½ cup of water in a blender, and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally.
- To make the sauce start by heating a little oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and garlic, sautéing a few minutes. Add the herbs, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, and squash, tossing it all together. Once the squash is coated, add the miso paste, vinegar, and vegetable broth, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes before blending into a smooth sauce.
- To make the kale filling heat a little more oil in a medium-sized skillet. Once hot, and the onion and garlic, and sauté for a couple minutes, until fragrant. Add the mushrooms, and cook for another minute or two before adding the chopped kale. Sauté until it has released a good amount of moisture. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
- Putting it all together preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Prepare a casserole dish with a thin layer of the squash sauce, to prevent sticking. Prepare your lasagna noodles as directed on the package. You will only need 12 noodles, but you might want to make more in case some break. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and toss in some oil to prevent sticking. Lay out a few noodles on a clean surface. Place a couple tablespoons of the almond cheese on each noodle, and gently spread it out leaving about an inch bare at the end. Add a heaping tablespoon of the kale filling, and spread that along the noodle too. Neatly roll the noodle up into a spiral, and place with the seam down in your casserole dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles. Cover the top of the noodles with the remaining sauce, spreading it out to cover all the pasta. Cover your dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes or so, to get everything nice and warm. Enjoy!
Click for a Print-Friendly Recipe!
Like these Vegan Lasagna Roll Ups? Pin it!
Oh my gosh this is,wonderful! Now, I am NOT a fan of Pasta, to me it is just glorified paste . 🤢 However, my Hubby lives for Pasta of any kind and so I have to try and find pasta recipes that I can eat every once in awhile to keep the Hubs happy as I refuse to cook two meals and if I refuse to, I think it is wrong of me to expect him to do so when he cooks. This one sounded interesting and so I gave it a shot as a surprise when Hubby got home from a trip. Naturally, he LOVED IT! But what surprised me was that I loved it!! Oh my gosh this is so good. I have made it a few times since discovering it and am still enjoying it.
The sauce is so good! So good in fact that I always make several batches worth and freeze it to have ready for a variety of things. I love it in various meals, such as over roasted cauliflower but it is my guilty pleasure snack, dipping salted tortilla chips in the sauce for a mid evening snack as we do not eat dinner until 9pm.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it truly is amazing. And best of all my omni family who visit never realised the meal had no meat or dairy until they noticed me eating it too. So I would highly recommend serving to the omni’s in your life too, they won’t be disappointed! 💚
Wow Shelley, thank you so much for the comment! I’m so glad you liked it, and I think I’m going to have to make up some of the sauce now to dip chips in 😋