This vegan eggplant lasagna is a hearty yet healthy gluten-free dish full of Italian flavor and nutrients and is just perfect for a family dinner, meal prep lunch or guest gathering.
Make vegan parmesan and vegan white sauce
1 Make vegan parmesan and vegan béchamel sauce. If you want to make it gluten-free, please use gluten free flour blend or 1.5 tbsp rice flour and 1.5 tbsp tapioca flour. If you made the white sauce ahead of time, you would need to reheat it later on, when you are done with the filling.
Prep the eggplants
4 Preheat the oven to 400F or 200C. Slice 3 large eggplants lengthwise with a very sharp knife. The eggplant noodles should be around 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick.Keep the sides, you will need them later for the filling.Lay them in a single layer on a baking tray (or two) with heatproof cooling rack on top.Alternatively, you can bake them on parchment paper. But I found that they are less watery if you use the cooling rack.If they don't fit on one baking tray, bake them in batches.Sprinkle with salt and bake for about 12 minutes on each side.
Make the filling
5 Heat olive oil a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat.Alternatively, use a few tablespoons of veggie broth for sautéeing to make it oil-free. Add chopped onion, finely chopped carrots and eggplant sides and sautée for one or two minutes.Add tempeh crumbles (you can break a block of tempeh with your fingers or grind with a grinder) and minced garlic. Cook for about 5minutes, stirring occasionally.Add marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, stir and cover with a lid. Let it all cook for 10more minutes or until the liquid is mostly adsorbed. You want the filling to be on the dry side, because the eggplants will release some more liquid and balance it all out.
Assemble vegetable lasagna with eggplant
7 Spread the rest of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. I used 9 x 6 inch (23 x 16 cm) rectangular dish but you also can use a 13 x 9 inch (33 x 23 cm) dish or similar.Top the sauce with eggplant noodles, followed by the filling,white sauce and vegan parmesan. Repeat the layering until everything has been used.If you are using a 9 x 6 inch dish, you would probably need 3eggplant noodles per layer. In this case, you would use 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3of the filling and 1/3 of the béchamel per layer. You will end up with 3 layers of eggplant, 3 layers of filling and 3 layers of béchamel and parmesan.
Bake
10 Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes or until it is bubbling and golden brown. If after 30 minutes, the top isn’t golden brown, broil it for a few minutes, making sure it doesn't burn.Allow it to cool and settle for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Use a long sharp knife or a chef's knife to cut through eggplant layers.Take out a portion of the lasagna from the dish by sliding a rubber spatula under each piece and lifting it up.Garnish with fresh chopped parsley (or basil). Enjoy!
