Rustic Raw Butterbella Lasagna

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I'm celebrating early with this yummy raw dish. It's easy to make and less stressful than cooking a huge feast. It's my Rustic Raw Butterbella Lasagna.

Leave it to me to give it a confusing name. "Butter" refers to butternut squash "noodles," while "bella" lets you know there's portabella mushrooms in there, too.

I'd share the exact recipe with you, if I took the time to measure everything out perfectly. But that's the beauty of this dish; you can make as much or as little as you like, and you don't have to stress about following a recipe to a tee.

Here's a play-by-play of how I put mine together. First, I soaked some raw cashews from Natural Zing overnight. Then, I drained them and blended them until smooth with some filtered water (maybe about half as much water as cashews), a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a dash of sea salt.

To add some more flavor and texture to the "cream" sauce, I stirred in crumbled up "cheesey" kale chips, and set the mixture aside to thicken.

The mushrooms were marinated in a simple combination of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, poultry seasoning, sea salt, cayenne pepper and fresh herbs, which included rosemary, sage and thyme.

While the mushrooms soaked up the marinade, I cut extremely thin "lasagna noodles" out of butternut squash using this awesome mandolin (you may remember me mentioning it in this past post). I can't imagine being able to get the slices this thin and pliable with just a knife.

The "noodles" were lightly salted before being introduced to the rest of the ingredients. Now, let the layering begin.

I always start with a smear of sauce to help glue everything to the bottom of the pan. It was just something my mom taught me with the cooked version. Then, put down the first layer of butternut "noodles."

Top the noodles with more "cream" sauce and some thick marinated portabella slices. Feel free to fill in the gaps with more sauce.

Then, cover the mushrooms/sauce with another layer of "noodles," and repeat with more mushrooms, sauce and a top layer of "noodles."

Brush the top with the leftover mushroom marinade and garnish with fresh herbs.

Allow to set in fridge until ready to serve, if you like that leftover cold lasagna feel (I always liked the leftovers the best, straight from the refrigerator), or warm slightly in your dehydrator. Yum!

But what about the turkey?

Here's my solution: building one out of fruits and veggies makes a lovely centerpiece, like this "Turkfruity." The best part is the fact that it's edible and good for you, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

*****

Shannonmarie, a.k.a. "Rawdorable," also posts on her blog of the same name, http://rawdorable.blogspot.com/.