If I could only eat one thing every night for dinner, it would be pasta. Choosing which pasta recipe would be hard, but pasta is my number 1 favorite meal.

These vegan ricotta stuffed shells are full of protein to keep you fueled. I make the vegan ricotta and parmesan from scratch with bulk ingredients to make it more sustainable, but using store bought should work though it may add higher sodium and sugar to the recipe.

I start this recipe by making the vegan ricotta and vegan parmesan and setting it aside while I cook the shells and the sauce.

Then I start preheating the oven and cooking the noodles and sauce.

Then the fun part of stuffing the shells full and adding them to the casserole dish. 

Next, the shells get covered in sauce and vegan parmesan before baking in the oven to perfection.

Please like or share this recipe to your Pinterest for later. And let me know in the comments how you liked it! 

Vegan Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Yield: 5

Prep time: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the pasta:

Jumbo Shells | 1 box

Crushed Tomatoes | 1 28 oz can

Fresh Basil | .75 cup chopped

Tomato Paste | 1 6 oz can

Olive Oil | 1 tbsp

Minced Garlic | 1 tsp

Oregano | 1 tsp

Crushed Red Pepper | .5 tsp

Black Pepper | to taste

For the vegan ricotta:

Raw Cashews | 1 cup

Slivered almonds | .5 cup

Almond Milk | 1 - 1.25 cups

Nutritional Yeast | 2 - 3 tbsp

Fresh Basil | .5 cups

Garlic Powder | 1 tsp

Lemon Juice | .5 lemon (if ricotta needs to be refrigerated)

For the vegan parmesan:

Raw cashews | .5 cup

Nutritional Yeast | 3 tbsp

Directions

1. Start by making the vegan parmesan. Add nutritional yeast and cashews to food processor or blender and process until consistent texture. Set aside. 

2. Then make the vegan ricotta. Add all ingredients except fresh basil to a food processor starting with 1 cup almond milk. Process until smooth. If it is not processing well or is too thick, add a little bit more almond milk. Stir in basil and set aside.

3. In a large pot, add water and cook jumbo shells according to directions. Set aside to cool.

4. Preheat oven to 400 and get out a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

5. In another pot or large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned (2-5 minutes).

6. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and bring to simmer for 5 - 10 minutes until the paste is mixed in.

7. Add fresh basil and spices and simmer another 2 - 3 minutes.

8. Pour half of the sauce into the casserole dish and spread over bottom and sides.

9. Take the cooled noodles and scoop in the ricotta mixture. Place noodle into the sauce in the casserole dish.

10. After all noodles have been added to the dish, cover the noodles with the remaining sauce mixture.

11. Top with vegan parmesan.

12. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

13. Remove foil and cook an additional 5 - 10 minutes until vegan parmesan is golden.

14. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Per 1 serving:

Calories: 581 | Fat: 26.9 g | Saturated Fat: 3.8 g | Cholesterol: 0 mg |

Sodium: 345 mg | Total Carbs: 65 g | Dietary Fiber: 10 g | Sugars: 11 g | Protein: 23 g