Description
- This pasta bake is so full of flavour and is naturally dairy free. You can easily make it gluten free (sub the pasta shells for GF) and is a great make-ahead option.
Ingredients
Scale
- 250g giant pasta shells
For the marinara sauce-
- 1 x box strained tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste*
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp finely ground sea salt
- Pepper
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
- 1 sprig finely chopped oregano, leaves only
For the filling-
- 100g vegan feta, crumbled**
- 200–300g spinach (frozen, then defrosted OR fresh and wilted)***
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
- 1/2 cup vegan fermented cashew cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of water and cook the pasta as per packet instructions
MAKE MARINARA SAUCE
- Heat olive oil in medium sized saucepan. Add garlic and sauté for 1-2 mins on until browned
- Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce and simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.
FILLING
- Heat a frypan over medium flame, then add olive oil. Add onion and salt and cook for 2-4 mins, or until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for a further 30 seconds. Turn off heat.
- In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Add cooled onion and garlic, and mix together until uniform.
- Heat oven to 180 degrees C.
ASSEMBLE PASTA BAKE
- Pour a layer of marinara sauce in the bottom of a deep tray.
- Spoon filling into pasta shells, placing onto the marinara base. You can layer the shells a little if you need to. Once you have finished filling, top with extra marinara sauce, sprinkle with vegan cheese (optional) and bake (covered) for approx 30 mins.
Delicious enjoyed as is, or with a nice green side salad!
Notes
*If you don’t have tomato pasta you could substitute it for tomato sauce
**You could substitute for grated vegan parmesan
*** If you dont have spinach on hand you can easily substitute for silverbeet (chopped + blanched) or grated zucchini