Hey my lovelies, I have been wandering the pasta aisle of my supermarket pondering new pasta recipes as my pregnancy sure has me craving pasta! I found these giant shells called “conchiglioni” and found a fun recipe for stuffing them with a tomato sauce inside one of the eBooks in The Vegan Bundle. So I wanted to create something a little bit different. I have also been craving cannelloni and spinach and feta triangles so I wanted to marry the 3 with this ‘Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells’ baked pasta dish!

By the way, I found that pasta in my large supermarket (I think it was coles!).

And, if pasta is your love language, as it is mine, then this delicious pasta bake is a sure way to someones heart this Valentines day. If you are reading this post Valentines day, well then regardless this recipe is sure to be a new favourite in your go-to recipes.

Packed with protein in the tofu, carbohydrates in the pasta, B vitamins inside the Nutritional Yeast, healthy fats from the oil and cashews, Vitamin C rich tomatoes PLUS iron rich spinach! This dish is not only delicious but nutritious as well!

RECIPE

serves 4+

V, DF

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw cashews

60mL soy milk

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)

cracked black pepper

juice of 1 lemon (60 mL)

350g firm tofu

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small brown onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, finely diced

100 g baby spinach

2 large handfuls fresh basil (approx 1 bunch)

1/2 cup pinenuts

500 mL jar of passata sauce *see note*

1 tbsp olive tapenade

250 g conchiglioni pasta (large shells) *see note*

1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese (I used a store bought one) *see note*

How to make:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius fan forced and bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
Add to a blender the cashews, soy milk, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Blend on high until smooth.
Meanwhile, cook pasta over the stove, as per packet instructions. Once cooked, drain water and rinse pasta under cool water to stop it sticking.
Place a pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onion and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes or until translucent. Add the baby spinach and sauté for a further minute or until wilted. Add to the blender containing the smooth cashew cream.
Place the pan back over high heat and add the pine nuts. Fry for 1 minute, or until golden, tossing occasionally.
Add 3/4 of the pine nuts to the blender, along with half of the tofu and the basil.
Blend until combined but not smooth, you want there to speckles of the spinach.
Crumble the remaining tofu into the jug and stir through.
Open the passata jar and add the olive tapenade, replace lid and shake to mix.
Fill the base of a large baking dish (or a few dishes as I have used) with the passata sauce, filling it about 1 cm deep.
Fill each pasta shell with approximately 1 tbsp of the spinach ricotta mix, place into the passata sauce, each shell side by side, and continue, using up all of the pasta and filing.
Sprinkle over the vegan parmesan and remaining pine nuts and place in the oven to bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve pasta shells and sauce onto plates right away! This dish would be perfect with a glass of red wine and a side of vinaigrette leafy greens.

Notes:

My favourite passata sauce to use is the Toscano Cherry Tomato Passata from Coles (it comes in a beer bottle and it is soo delicious)

This type of pasta can also be found in Coles or in fine food markets. If you cannot locate this type of pasta you could turn this dish into a cannelloni.

The brand of parmesan cheese I use is “bio cheese”. If you are not vegan/DF you can use regular parmesan.