Vegan, Gluten Free, Eggplant Lasagna with Cinnamon Cumin Tomato Sauce

My dear friend Molly made this yummy recipe for Roasted Eggplant and Chickpeas with Cinnamon-Tinged Tomato Sauce and Feta from The New York Times.

Photo by Andrew Scivani

 It was so yummy, that I was craving more when I got home, and even more the next day...

I had to recreate the recipe – vegan and oil-free of course.

So voilá! Here you have it.

Oh, and you can enjoy this as a raw lasagna too if you like - just skip the popping into oven part ;)

Gluten Free, Vegan Eggplant Lasagna with Cinnamon Cumin Tomato Sauce
by Sarah Farsh, Adapted by Martha Rose Shulman, December 4, 2013

• 2 medium sized eggplants, cut into 1/4" thick slices vertically, shaped as lasagna pasta
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 3 tbsp fresh Basil, chopped (or dried)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (or honey or agave) 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (for sauce)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric 
• 2 cans unsalted chickpeas, rinsed and drained  
• 2 tsp Herbs de province 
• 2 cups baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• handful of cherry tomatoes, optional

Vegan Almond Cheese (vegan feta)

• 2 cups almonds 
• 4 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• salt/pepper to taste 
• 3 cloves garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place eggplant slices onto nonstick cookie sheet and bake for 10 -13 minutes until lightly browned. Meanwhile, dry sauté onions in a medium sized sauce pan. Add the minced three cloves of garlic reserved for sauce, basil, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and 1 tsp Herbs de Province. Mix well and add crushed tomatoes, maple syrup salt and pepper. Add in chickpeas and combine together with sauce. Let simmer. Note: If you would like to create this dish raw, you could use the red sauce in my Raw Living Lasagna recipe and add sprouted chickpeas. 

Meanwhile, you can prep the vegan almond cheese. In VitaMix or food processor, add almonds, lemon juice, salt, pepper and 3 cloves garlic. Pulse until all ingredients are combined. This ends up tasting like feta cheese!

Once eggplant is cooked, let cool until you are ready to handle the slices. In a large pyrex dish, layer the chickpea tomato sauce onto bottom - reserve about a 1/4 cup of sauce for topping. Add one layer of mushrooms - use all 2 cups. Add layer with all your eggplant and top with remaining sauce. Using a fork, scrape out almond "cheese" from blender and arrange as the top layer. Sprinkle with 1 tsp Herbs de Province and optional grape tomatoes. Lower oven to 350 degrees and bake lasagna for 40 - 45 minutes - until bubbly and almond cheese is golden brown.