This pressed zucchini lasagna is just delicious and so easy for summer! It is refreshing and cool to enjoy on a warm summer day. I love the fact that it can be made up front and left in the fridge to get even tastier.
The structure becomes different from pressing the lasagna. It resembles more the cooked version, more compact than a usual raw lasagna. Besides that it is delicious it also looks quite impressive how it is built up with all the layers of zucchini, cheese, tomatoes, fresh herbs and spinach.
The thinly sliced zucchini is salted lightly to make the texture softer. I let them sit like this and rinse the salt off after about 15 minutes and pat them dry.
The “cheese” is made with tahini, sesame seed paste, which makes this pressed raw lasagna nut free. The cheese is really easy to make, just blend up all the ingredients and it is ready to be used. You can of course sub this for another soft vegan cheese you like.
I also have the recipe of a fermented creamy “goat” cheese and a sweet thyme cheese here on my site, these could also work in this pressed zucchini lasagna recipe if you don’t mind using nuts and have time to wait for the nuts to turn cheesy.
The spinach is softened and flavored in a garlic lemon juice marinade. Now you can build your lasagna starting with the slices zucchini, followed by spinach, herbs, cheese and tomato. Repeat.
By pressing the layered lasagna for 3 to 4 hours it will get more dens and concentrated in structure and flavor. I just cover it with parchment paper, add another baking form on top and put some weights like some water filed jars or a book on it. This way the weight is distributed evenly.
Serve with a big green salad and your done. Juicy layers …. I love the look of this recipe! Slicing the zucchini thinly is very important to get a nice texture, I used a mandolin slicer.
There will be some delicious broth-like moisture in the bottom of the dish. Don’t throw this away! I like to scoop it on the bottom of my plate or serve it in a bowl so this juice can be easily scooped up. This is also a great meal to take along for pot lucks or summer parties.
Love summer ….. xo
ps. to save tis recipe you can pin the picture below to your Pinterest board,
Pressed Zucchini Lasagna raw
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchinis sliced very thin with a mandoline
- 3 medium tomatoes sliced very thin
- 6 cups loosely packed baby spinach
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 Tbsp chopped basil leaves
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced very thinly or crushed
- 14 pitted olives sliced
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- sea salt and freshly ground back pepper
“cheese”
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp nama shoyu or soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, optional, not raw
Instructions
- Salt the zucchini slices lightly and let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse and dab it dry.
- Marinate the spinach leaves in 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, garlic and sea salt for about 15 minutes.
- Blend the ingredients for the “cheese”until it is creamy. I use a small blender for this task. If you have no blender you can also whisk it with a small whisk.
- Assemble the lasagna starting with 1/3 of the zucchini slices. Add 1/2 of the spinach on top, follow this with 1/2 of the cheese sauce and 1/2 of the tomatoes. Repeat and end with a layer of zucchini.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on the lasagna, add a book on top and place some heavy bottles on top. Set in the fridge for about 3 to 4 hours.
- Slice and serve with a green salad. Scoop some of the juice in your bowl or plate.
