One Pot Lasagne with The Happy Pear

One Pot Lasagne with The Happy Pear

This one came out of a collab with our mates Steve and David from The Happy Pear and honestly, it's become one of our all-time favourite lasagnes. Everything cooks in one pot, the cashew cream is silky and rich, and it tastes like you've been in the kitchen for hours even though it comes together in 45 minutes. The layers of pasta soak up all that saucy goodness as it cooks and the whole thing is proper comfort food at its best. If you're looking for a recipe to convince a sceptic that plant-based food is incredible, this is the one.

Cook: 45 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Soak cashew nuts for 30 minutes in 300ml boiling water
  • Boil kettle for lasagne sheet par-cooking
  • Large ovenproof pot with metal/heatproof handles (no plastic or wood)
  • Large bowl for soaking lasagne sheets
  • Pastry brush
  • Blender
  • Scissors (for cutting lasagne sheets & sun-dried tomatoes)
  • Lid for ovenproof pot

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 250g lasagne sheets
  • 3 tbsp Nooch
  • 250g cashew nuts
  • 150ml vegetable stock
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar or lime juice
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 200g mushrooms
  • 1 courgette
  • ½ red chilli
  • 5 sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 100ml red wine
  • 2 cans x 400g can(s) of chopped tomatoes
  • 100g tomato purée
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper

Method

1

Prepare the cashews

  • First soak the cashew nuts for the cashew cream in 300 ml of boiling water for 30 minutes
2

Prepare the lasagne sheets

  • Boil a full kettle and pour the boiling water into a large bowl
  • Using a pastry brush, brush both sides of each lasagne sheet with oil so they are properly coated
  • Put them into the water (oiling them will stop them sticking together while they are part-cooking in the water)
3

Make the tomato sauce

  • For the tomato sauce, peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, finely slice the mushrooms and slice the courgette into thin half-wheels
  • Chop the chilli finely, removing the seeds if you prefer less heat
  • Lastly, chop the sun-dried tomatoes very finely (easiest if you use scissors)
  • Get a wide ovenproof pot (no plastic/wooden handle and ideally a similar height/depth to a casserole dish) and put on a high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and leave to heat up. Add the onion, garlic and chilli, and fry for 2 minutes stirring regularly until the garlic is turning golden and the onions are going transparent
  • Now add the mushrooms and courgette and continue to fry for about 2 minutes stirring regularly
  • Next, add the red wine and allow to reduce for 2 minutes. Pour in the chopped tomatoes together with the tomato puree, sun-dried tomatoes, maple syrup, salt and black pepper
  • Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat
4

For the cashew cream

  • While your tomato sauce is simmering, make your cashew cream
  • Drain and rinse the soaked cashews
  • Put all the ingredients for the cashew cream into a blender and blend until really smooth
5

Assemble the lasagne

  • Remove half the tomato sauce and put aside, leaving the other half in the pot to use as a base
  • Remove the lasagne sheets form the bowl of water and separate them if they have stuck together a little
  • Use half of them to form a layer on top of the base tomato sauce, cutting the sheets with scissors so that they properly fit the pot (don’t overlap them)
  • On top of your first layer of lasagne sheets, pour half the cashew cream and spread it evenly across the edges
  • Next, add the remaining tomato sauce and spread it out evenly. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets as before, then finish by spooning the remaining cashew cheese on top and spreading it smoothly and evenly
  • Once layered up, put a lid on the pot and cook on the hob on a medium to low heat for 5 - 10 minutes. If you have time and have a grill, remove the lid and place the lasagne under the grill for another 5 - 10 minutes until it starts to turn golden
  • Cut into the lasagne, serve and enjoy!

Tips & Variations

  • Cashew shortcut: If you forget to soak the cashews in advance, just cover them in boiling water and leave them for at least 15 minutes. They won't be quite as silky but they'll still work really well.
  • Make it your own: We love adding a big handful of spinach or kale into the sauce for extra greens. It wilts down completely so even fussy eaters won't notice.
  • Leftovers are magic: This tastes even better the next day once all the flavours have had time to meld together. If it thickens up in the fridge, just add a small splash of water when you reheat it.

Why This Works

The trick is soaking those cashews in boiling water first so they blend down into a genuinely creamy, luxurious sauce with no graininess at all. Brushing the lasagne sheets with oil before part-cooking them is a game changer too, it stops them clumping together and means every layer stays distinct and delicious. Trust us on this one, those two little steps are what take this from good to absolutely brilliant.