- Preheat oven to 350.
- Make meat sauce: Preheat a large skillet over medium-high. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom and let heat. Add the minced onion and saute until translucent, adding a large 3 finger pinch of salt as it cooks. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the meat and cook until cooked through, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Add ⅓ of the jar of marinara (about 1 cup) and simmer for 10-15 minutes
- Cook the noodles: While the sauce simmers, cook lasagna noodles per the directions by bringing a large pot of salted water to boil and cook until al dente. Drain, and toss with a splash of olive oil to prevent sticking until ready to use.
- Make the cheese sauce: First, make the cashew cheese by draining the soaked cashews and rinsing. Place in the food processor and blend with the lemon juice and salt until smooth. Adding water 1 Tbs. at a time as needed until you get a texture similar to ricotta. Taste to see if more salt is needed. Second, make the aquafaba by draining a can of chickpeas and saving the liquid. Place this liquid in a bowl and use an electric hand mixer to blend until white and frothy. Continue to blend until soft peaks form when the mixer is lifted up (about 3 min on high). Fold 1 cup of the aquafaba with the cashew cheese gently by hand. Set this aside.
- Defrost the spinach by placing it in a strainer and running under hot water. Use your hands to squeeze out all the excess water until spinach is completely dry (will look like only about 1 cup).
- Assemble: Add ¼ cup of the marinara sauce to the bottom of a 9×9 baking dish. Layer ⅓ of the noodles, ⅓ meat sauce, ⅓ cashew cheese, and ½ spinach. Repeat 2 more times. Finish with the remaining marinara sauce and sprinkle of nutritional yeast.
- Bake 30-40 minutes or until edges bubble and the top layer is firm.
Notes:
- If not able to find a high-quality sausage without additives, you can use any ground meat and add 1 tsp onion powder, oregano, parsley, and ¼ tsp red pepper flakes to the meat mixture.
- While the aquafaba makes the cashew cheese mixture much more light and airy, this dish can be made without that step.