Our good friends Daley and Caitlin Campbell were kind enough to share with us their recipe for Raw Zucchini Lasagna, which they made as one of the many vegan offerings of Kitchen Ahimsa, their raw vegan food business. Originally in Wilmington, NC, Daley and Caitlin have moved to Asheville, where Daley has started a job at the vegan restaurant Plant and Caitlin is continuing to make Kitchen Ahimsa’s delicious kale chips.

Raw Zucchini Lasagna
Serves 4

For the pasta:

2 zucchini (you could also use daikon radish )

Slice these really thin using a mandolin (you could try with a knife but uniform thickness and size is what we are looking for).

For the marinara:

1-2 large tomatoes
Fresh basil
Fresh thyme
Fresh oregano (you can also use dry for these herbs, but fresh is best)
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Cut tomatoes into 8 pieces and remove seeds. Cut the skins/flesh into fine dice (concasse).

Next add the seeds to a food processor and blend. Add the herbs, seasoning, and lemon juice and blend some more. The amount of herbs and seasoning is purely down to taste but I would say a good few sprigs of herbs and a tsp of salt and pepper and 2 lemons juiced.

Pesto:

1 cup basil
1/2 cup parsley
Salt
Pepper
Thyme (optional)
Oregano (optional)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup (optional) pine nuts
1/2 cup cashews

This is a very loose base recipe, meaning you may want to play with the ratios to see what works best for you.

Blend all the herbs in processor/Vitamix. Add salt and liquids. When nicely combined, throw in the nuts/pine nuts (pine nuts are hard to find and super expensive. They do add a great taste but cashews work great too, so just add more if they are all you can find).

Walnut meat:

1 cup walnuts (soak for 4 hours)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (soak for 4 hours)
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (soak for 4 hours )
2-3 shitaake mushroom
Tamari/ coconut amino (optional to taste )
2 Tsp sage

Blend the mushroom and sun dried tomato and soak water in a food processor ( sun dried tomato can be very salty hence the tamari is optional.
Drain of the nuts/seeds and add to tomato mixture. Try not to over blend. You are looking for a chunky texture. Stir in the sage.

Cashew cheese:

1 cup cashew (soak 4 hours minimum)
1/4 tsp acidophilus
1/2-3/4 cup water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
Salt
1/8 cup lemon juice

Drain the cashews and rinse. Add to Vitamix and add the water. Blend on full power until very smooth. Stir in the acidophilus and cover, then leave somewhere warm for 6-18 hours.

Combine with rest of ingredients, adding or subtracting to taste.

Place in a squirt bottle and refrigerate for 2+ hours.

Building lasagna

Get a mold and put down a layer of zucchini. Add a layer of marinara. Add some walnut meat, pesto, cashew cheese, baby spinach (optional), and then add another layer of zucchini and repeat until you have 3-4 layers.