Ricotta Stuffed Shells

This family friendly meal is a great Italian dish to serve for dinner. With just a few simple steps this baked dish will fill your stomach with cheesy goodness.

I have been wanting to make this dish for a while because I always see stuffed shells on Instagram and I finally got the chance. With all my free time with it being "Spring Break" I have had the opportunity to try out a bunch of new recipes, redecorate my room, and go on runs OUTSIDE instead of just on the treadmill. Running outside is so much better than inside, I feel like I can go longer and enjoy it ten times more. Just breathing fresh air after being locked inside for the past week relieves so much stress.

With this dish, I made garlic bread with vegan butter heated in a pan and added garlic to roast. Once is was hot and roasted I brushed it on my Italian bread and popped it in the oven for about 5-7 minutes (the last couple of minutes I put it on broil to crisp it on the inside).

The ricotta cheese is the same recipe used in the eggplant lasagna from my previous post. It is my favorite ricotta recipe and I use it for a lot!

Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Duration: 50 minutes

Servings: 5-6

Shells:

• 12 oz Barilla Jumbo Shells

• 2 cups of marinara sauce of choice

• Tofu ricotta cheese

Tofu Ricotta:

• 1 block firm tofu

• lemon zest of half a lemon

• 1 lemon juiced

• 1 cup soaked cashews

• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning

• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Begin soaking cashews in boiling water for 30 minutes.

3. Cook pasta shells a little less than package requires (Continues cooking in oven).

4. Add all tofu ricotta ingredients to a food processor.

5. Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce on bottom of a large baking pan.

6. Once shells are cooked, fill each shell with about 1/4 cup of tofu ricotta and line in marinara coated baking pan.

7. Once pan is filled, spread second cup of marinara sauce on top of shells.

8. Cover baking pan and place in oven for 30-35 minutes.

9. Optional: Top with vegan parmigiana.

10. Serve and Enjoy!