Pasta Shells Stuffed With Ricotta
Conchiglioni translates from Italian to English as large sea shells and that’s exactly what these jumbo pasta shells look like!
A pasta shape this big definitely needs filling with something delicious and a common delicious filling is ricotta cheese and spinach. However for us vegans there is not such thing as a vegan ricotta (or at least here in Australia no one has invented a convincing one yet!) so we must get creative!
Ricotta is a soft creamy cheese with a mild flavor- perfect for making stuffed pasta shells! But I’ve made a vegan version is made with silken tofu, nutritional yeast, garlic and some salt and pepper. Just as delicious but healthier than dairy cheese!
The giant pasta shells are stuffed with the filling, coated in a rich marinara sauce, topped with some vegan cheddar or mozzarella and baked in the oven until perfectly cooked.
This one is fantastic when you’re needing a good comfort meal. It also heats up well for the next day for lunch!
Enjoy!
How to make vegan ricotta
You can make a great vegan ricotta using silken tofu, nutritional yeast for cheesy savory flavor, garlic and salt and pepper. Just mash everything together until smooth and you're ready to use it.
Stuffed pasta shells ingredients and substitutes
- Pasta- These giant pasta shells hold the perfect amount of filling however this recipe can also be used with lasagne sheets or cannelloni tubes.
- Silken tofu- I used silken tofu as the ‘ricotta’ in this recipe as its texture is perfect however as tofu is flavourless it is vital to add the seasonings so don’t skip this step. You can substitute the tofu for cream cheese if you’d like.
- Sauce- I love to use homemade marinara sauce as it’s relatively easy to make and that way I can control the ingredients however shop bought pasta sauce is also fine to use if you are short on time.
- Cheese- It is best to have strong flavor cheese to top the pasta shells as the filling is mild in flavor. I used Vio life mature cheddar.
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How to make stuffed shells
- Firstly cook the pasta shells until al dente.
- Meanwhile make your filling.
- Stuff the filling into the shells and fill a baking tray with sauce.
- Place the stuffed shells onto the sauce.
- Top with cheese and bake until cheese has melted
Tofu 'Ricotta' and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells
Ingredients
- 20 Large pasta shells
- 250 g Spinach
- 350 g Silken tofu
- 30 g Nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp Garlic granules
- Salt & pepper
- 500 g Tomato pasta sauce
- 100 g Grated cheese
Instructions
- Boil the pasta shells until nearly cooked, drain and set aside.
- Add the spinach to a microwaveable bowl, add a few tbsp of water and microwave until wilted. Squeeze out the liquid and chop up the spinach.
- Put the silken tofu into a mixing bowl with the spinach, nutritional yeast, garlic granules and salt & pepper. Mix with a fork until combined.
- Pipe or spoon the mix evenly into the pasta shells.
- In a baking dish pour in ¾ of the pasta sauce.
- Put the filled shells filling side up on top of the pasta sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce out evenly on top of each pasta shell.
- Cover the shells with the grated cheese and bake in the oven until the cheese has melted.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Piping bag- I used a piping bag to pipe my mixture into the shells but if you don’t have a piping bag not to worry- spooning the mixture is also fine!
- Spinach cooking- I recommend to microwave the spinach with a little water until wilted. Leave it to cool completely and squeeze out all of the liquid. Nobody wants a watery pasta!
- Marinara sauce- to make the marinara sauce just sauté half of a diced onion, add 1 clove of diced garlic, 1 tsp Italian herbs, 1 tsp salt and 1 carton of tomato passata. Leave on a low simmer for 15 minutes.
If you love pasta you'll love these recipes too
- Mac n cheese with tempeh bacon crumble topping
- Spinach and basil pesto pasta
- Vegan olive pesto pasta
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