This decadent vegetarian lasagna features layers of ackee pasta, rich ackee cream, meaty roasted mushrooms, fresh basil, parmesan and mozzarella. Guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser; serve it with a tomato or green salad to balance its richness.

Vegetarian-ackee-lasagna-delicious

Using a Pasta Machine

Scratch made pasta is a labour of love! BUT, it’s way more delicious than store bought pasta. In my book, that makes the effort worth it. I was fortunate to find a Marcato hand crank pasta machine in a thrift store in Canmore (🤣 I rhyme). The best $15 I’ve ever spent! At the time they’d usually retail for about $100 and this one has the fettuccine and spaghetti cutters #blessed!

Countless pasta noodles have gone through its rollers; mini tortillas and not to mention gumpaste for hundreds of wedding cake flowers! I’m not kidding, hundreds! Yes, a rolling pin can do the trick. I just much prefer the ease of the pasta machine.

How to Make Ackee Pasta

Ackees are a good source of healthy fat. They can be used much like eggs in the basic pasta recipe. This makes a delicious vegan fresh pasta. Though this lasagna is not vegan; to make it so:

  • Substitute the cream for coconut milk or another dairy free alternative
  • Use your favorite vegan cheese to replace the parmesan and mozzarella
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This dish was unbelievably delicious! The hubby decimated his in quick order then went back for seconds.

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Because ackees are mild in flavour, I opted for only a white sauce (the rich ackee cream). Typically, I do both a white and red sauce but didn’t want to overpower the flavour. By the second day the ackee flavour was more prominent and the lasagna tasted even more delicious! If you absolutely love your red sauce, I’d recommend spooning it on top when serving.

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Though the lasagna will probably not make a next feature until a family potluck or so; the ackee pasta will definitely show up again soon. I made several batches while developing the recipe. One of which got mixed leftover chickpeas in Thai peanut sauce, soooo good!😍 Not to mention, mac ‘n kees made with ackee pasta or creamy veggie fettuccine with ackee fettuccine! Another favourite: Ackee “Rasta Ravioli“.

Slice-of-the-decadent-and-delicious-ackee-lasagna

What do you think?

As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from this site be sure to #amazingackee so that I can see your posts across social media.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

This-decadent-ackee-lasagna-starts-with-ackee-pasta-includes-an-indulgent-ackee-cream,-meaty-roasted-mushrooms,-fresh-basil-with-mozzarella-and-parmesan

Ackee Pasta

Chantal
Ackee pasta uses only two ingredients and is super easy to put together. It uses the same ratio as a basic fresh pasta recipe but contains no eggs so it’s vegan! Because ackees are a good source of natural fat we don’t even need to add oil.
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Ingredients
  

  • 6 oz Parboiled Ackee mashed or passed through a sieve
  • 10.5 oz All purpose flour

Instructions
 

  • Combine ackee and flour in a food processor. Pulse until the dough starts coming together
  • Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes (this is to develop the gluten structure, personally, I tend to go more for 5 minutes because as much as I love touching dough, sometimes I’d simply rather be off somewhere with my feet up and a book)
  • Wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature for about an hour, but 20 minutes is okay if you can’t or don’t want to wait. If you don’t have the time to work the dough right away, you can put it in your fridge overnight and come back to it the next day.
  • Divide the dough into four equal portions. Working one portion at a time, press or roll the dough out then pass it through the widest setting on your pasta machine.
  • Fold the dough in thirds, press or roll it down and pass it through the widest setting once more. Move on to the next piece then repeat the whole process until each piece of dough has been given four three-folds (this also is to develop the gluten, I’ve gotten away with folding it into thirds only twice).
  • Roll out the dough to the desired thinness then cut into desired shape depending on what you are making.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

If you don’t have a food processor or pasta machine:
All the steps can be done by hand but then requires a fair bit of work. If kneading the dough by hand you’ll want to pass your ackee through a sieve so its already smooth and easy to work with. Knead well till it comes together in a firm ball. After resting the dough, follow the instructions for rolling the dough into thirds using a rolling pin and your awesome arm strength
Fresh pasta cooks fast! Be ready:
When cooking the pasta it is crucial to remember that fresh pasta cooks a lot faster than dry/store bought pasta. This ackee pasta was done in about a minute! Be sure to have everything you need already laid out so as soon as they float in the boiling water you’re ready to go. That is from the colander you need to drain it and the sauce or oil you plan to toss it in, if you’re making lasagna it’s not necessary to cook the pasta beforehand, but I personally prefer to do it this way as I find it easier to handle.
Cooking pasta noodles for lasagna:
When cooking the noodles for lasagna, have a large bowl with ice and water ready to cool down the pieces. Drop a couple sheets in salted boiling water a few sheets at a time, the moment they float use a pair of tongs to gently remove them from the water and put it in the bowl with the ice, continue till you have all your sheets cooked. If you have a couple clean kitchen towels, for the next step, lay it out on your counter then place the cooked lasagna noodles on top and cover with the other kitchen towel to dry the excess water off the noodles. I do this with paper towel: lay down a layer of paper towel then a layer of pasta then another layer of paper towel and another layer of pasta if need be so on and so forth gently pressing the paper towel down. I then gently pull the paper towel off and proceed with the assembling of the lasagna.
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Rich Ackee Cream

Chantal
Ackee on it’s own is plenty creamy, simmering it in heavy cream brings it to a level of decadence not meant to be had every day but once in a while in a treat like this.
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Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups Heavy whipping cream*
  • 1 1/2 cups Parboiled Ackee
  • 5 cloves Garlic or more if you like
  • 3 Pimento Jamaican allspice grains
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients except the salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a simmer
  • Cook until the cream reduces and thickens slightly**. The ackee and garlic should be extremely soft.
  • Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl. Whisk well then press a piece of plastic directly over the top of the cream and set aside in the fridge until needed. 
    This can be made ahead of time.

Notes

* You can substitute half and half for a lighter cream or use coconut milk for a vegan version it may be necessary to add cornstarch or arrowroot to thicken the mix
**For a thicker cream that will hold it’s shape: cook until the cream is reduced by about half and coats the back of a spoon. This cream can be used for flatbreads, sandwiches or even canapes

Ackee Lasagna

Chantal
This decadent vegetarian lasagna is made with ackee pasta and a rich ackee cream it’s layered with roasted mushrooms, fresh basil, shredded parmesan and mozzarella.
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 recipe Ackee Pasta cut into sheets for lasagna, cooked and ready to go
  • 1 recipe Rich Ackee Cream

For the mushrooms:

  • 4 cups Mushrooms I used baby portabello mushrooms
  • 3 cloves Garlic finely minced/grated
  • Salt Black Pepper and Cayenne Pepper to taste
  • Oil as needed

To finish:

  • Soft mozzarella cheese about 8oz
  • Parmesan cheese shredded, about 4oz
  • Basil about 1/2 cup loosely packed

Instructions
 

Roast mushrooms:

  • Preheat oven to 425F. Lightly spray a sheet tray with oil
  • Slice the mushrooms and combine with oil and garlic
  • Spread evenly on prepared tray and roast for 15 to 25 minutes. Season with salt and peppers.
  • Set aside till cool enough to handle. This can be done a day ahead

Assemble the lasagna:

  • Preheat oven to 375F and spray an 8 by 8 square baking dish.
  • Spread a little of the ackee cream at the bottom of the dish (this is a little trick I picked up, the sauce smeared at the bottom gives a little extra insurance so that the noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the dish)
  • Start layering the lasagna: Cut the lasagna sheets as needed to fit the baking dish. Smear with cream, sprinkle with mushrooms, basil and cheeses. Repeat layering till you’ve used up most of the ingredients (you may have a little pasta and sauce left over) The lighter you go on the ingredients the more layers you can have.
  • Add extra cheese to the top layer if you like
  • Place on a clean baking tray (to catch any bubbling over cheese) and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the top is beautiful and golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and let stand for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
  • Lasagna will not hold together when very hot, in fact, making it a day ahead will give you perfect slices that you can then reheat and serve. But if you understandably can’t wait that long, go ahead, it will still be delicious, serve it in a bowl instead of on a plate and you’re good to go.
  • Enjoy!
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