Lauren Mote’s Winter Squash Lasagne

Who is Lauren Mote?

Lauren Mote has been an intricate part of the food and beverage industry for over 10 years. Spanning her knowledge and enthusiasm between Toronto and Vancouver, she has devoted her expertise to Le Select Bistro, Lumiere, Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, Hawksworth Catering and Chow Restaurant.

Lauren is an accomplished writer, the founder/editor of Poivre Media Company, and recently added both Certified Sommelier and Niche-Beverage Consultant titles to her resume, while launching her newest company, Lauren Mote Productions.

Also an award-winning mixologist, Lauren is currently at the helm of The Refinery’s critically-acclaimed cocktail program. The Refinery is quickly becoming one of several Canadian establishments well-known for its contribution to contemporary cocktail culture innovation. What Lauren’s program is most known for are cocktail construction styles as well as homemade bitters, vermouths and alcoholic tinctures – totaling 23 as of today.

Lauren’s specialties move across edible borders – she is an avid vegetarian and cook, and has developed some super innovative and healthy recipes that embrace contemporary vegetarianism for her site www.laurenmote.com and others including The Vegan Project.

Lauren’s Winter Squash Lasagne Recipe

I may not be a raw-vegan anymore, but it’s important to note that my life is 70% vegan. I still create innovative dishes all the time. What I noticed from my time spent during specific diets like raw and vegan was that I was anxious to create, and while not having access to particular ingredients, it made the quality level and my imagination level high.

This recipe was created a couple of days ago, and celebrates the flavours of winter comfort foods and flavours. It is most certainly rich and delicious.

Bechamel Sauce:

1L Unsweetened Almond Milk

4 tbsp Spelt Flour

4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 sprigs Fresh Thyme

4 cloves Garlic, minced

Salt

1.5 cups seed/nut topping**(recipe below)

Method: On Medium heat, cook olive oil, minced garlic and spelt flour together – this is the base for a roux. Add the almond milk and thyme sprigs, and whisk ingredients together. Cook gently over medium heat for about 25 minutes – gradually as the water in the almond milk evaporates, the roux will work to thicken the sauce. Salt should only be added towards the end of cooking, and just enough to balance the sauce. Reserve 1 cup of sauce for the squash puree.

**Only once you’re ready to build the lasagne should you add the seed/nut topping to the sauce and stir to really thicken – this gives the illusion of a super rich cheese sauce. Amazing. Feel free to blitz this mixture after removing the thyme sprigs to give a smoother consistency, I did.

Squash:

1 medium Winter Squash

1 medium Leek

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 cup Almond Bechamel Sauce**

Fresh Sage

Method: Peel and chop squash and large pieces of leek. Add both with some olive oil, salt and pepper to a roasting pan, and throw in a 400F oven for 30 minutes. After roasting, reserve the leek pieces for another use. The squash should be fork soft at this point. **Add squash to a saucepan on low heat with 1 cup of almond bechamel sauce, and puree with a hand-blitzer. Stir in chopped sage.

Vegetables:

1 LB Kale

1 LB Spinach

1 clove Garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 tsp Dry red chillies

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blanch vegetables in salted water, sautee with garlic, salt, pepper, and chillies.

Noodles:

1 box Organic Brown Rice Lasagne Noodles

Method: Follow cooking instructions.

Seed/Nut Topping:

200g Raw Pumpkin Seeds

200g Raw Sunflower Seeds

200g Raw Almonds

200g Raw Walnuts

200g Raw Cashews

Salt

Sage

Method: Natural oils will seep out of the ingredients with the introduction of heat in the food processor. Blitz all ingredients together until the desired crumb consistency is reached.

Build:

Using a medium 1-2″ deep pan, rub with a bit of olive oil.

Start with a layer of squash, then vegetables, then noodles. Repeat.

At the top, pour the almond milk bechamel over the lasagne, make sure to cover everything in the pan!

Top the lasagne with the seed/nut topping and throw uncovered into the oven for 25 minutes on 400F or until top is browny-gold.

When you take it out, it’s nuclear hot. Rest it for 10 minutes then consume!