I made this recipe several months ago and completely forgot about sharing it with you. Not because it was unmemorable – quite the opposite – but recipes and photos occasionally get lost in the bunch if I’m not careful. The photos on my computer are a bit out of control (or so says my husband). I’m trying to work up the courage to tell Eric that I’ve filled up yet another hard drive, but that is another story.
This stuffed shell pasta is inspired by Terry Walters, author of Clean Food and Clean Start cookbooks. There’s a recipe for basic stuffed shells in her Clean Food cookbook, so I played around with it by adding more veggies and fresh herbs. The outcome is a tasty tofu “ricotta-like” cheese that can be added to stuffed shells, spread on lasagna, or even turned into eggplant rollatini if you are so inclined. Of course, it doesn’t taste exactly like ricotta cheese (not that I even remember what it tastes like!), but it sure is a tasty dairy-free alternative.
Speaking of eggplant rollatini, here’s a photo when I made it last summer – served on a bed of julienned carrot and zucchini “pasta” with a sprinkle of almond parmesan cheese. A lovely summer meal. Edit: I’ve added the directions for prepping the eggplant in the comments section.
I haven’t been able to find any gluten-free dairy-free jumbo shells yet, but I’m sure they exist. If you know of any brands, please give them a shout-out in the comments! For those of you looking for a soy alternative, maybe give nut-cheese a try instead. I have a cheese recipe in my lasagna recipe that could probably be used for stuffed shells also.
As for the tofu, you can crumble it by hand or you can use a food processor. I’ve made it both ways and I can’t decide which I prefer. Crumbling by hand is a bit messy, but it saves cleaning the processor while using the processor is a bit quicker and results in a creamier texture. It’s really up to you how you make it.
Jumbo Stuffed Shells
Yield
6 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Adapted from: Clean Food by Terry Walters
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 3.5 cups pasta sauce
- 340 grams jumbo pasta shells (I used 30 shells or 2/3 of the box – but make extra as some break)
For the Tofu Ricotta
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, minced
- 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley, minced
- 1 (14oz) package extra-firm or firm tofu, pressed
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4-1 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
- Rinse block of tofu and wrap with paper towels followed by 2-3 tea towels. Place it on a cutting board or plate and add several heavy cookbooks on top. Press tofu for about 20-25 minutes to drain out the water. Alternatively, you can use a tofu press.
- Grease a very large casserole dish. I used about 30 shells, but you’ll need to cook more than that as some shells will break during the cooking process. Cook shells in a pot of boiling water until al dente, about 8-11 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. Drain shells and set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. For the tofu ricotta: In a large skillet, sauté the garlic and onion in the oil for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the chopped celery, basil, and parsley and sauté for another 5 minutes or so. Feel free to throw in some spinach for extra greens.
- For the tofu, you can either crumble it into the skillet with your hands or you can give it a whirl in the food processor and then stir it into the skillet. If you use the processor, the texture will be very creamy like ricotta cheese and if you crumble it with your hands it will be more chunky/crumbly. It’s up to you how you want to make it. I usually opt to crumble it by hand so I don’t dirty the processor. Stir in the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, lemon, and cayenne all to taste. Over medium heat, cook for about 8-10 minutes or until most of the water cooks off.
- Spoon about 1 cup of marinara sauce into the casserole dish and spread around. Add about 2 tbsp of tofu ricotta into each stuffed shell and place shells on top of marinara sauce. Cover shells with the remaining 2-2.5 cups marinara sauce and any leftover tofu ricotta. You can add vegan cheese on top, but I don’t bother. Cover dish with tin foil and poke several air holes. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes or until heated throughout. Serve with a basic green salad and garlic bread, if desired.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Vida Vegan Con Giveaway Winner!
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Traci I will shoot you an email today to get things rolling. Thanks again to Grace for her generous ticket donation and to everyone for participating. I really appreciate all of your lovely comments by the way.
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I LOVE THE RECIPE, ALL THE RIGHT STUFF…..BUT ALL THE CHATTER DOESN’T APPEAL TO ME ATALL … THE FOOD IS WHAT I ENJOY READING ABOUT ,,NOTHING ELSE….QUERINO DE-FREITAS
I LOVE THE RECIPE, ALL THE RIGHT STUFF…..BUT ALL THE CHATTER DOESN’T APPEAL TO ME ATALL … THE FOOD IS WHAT I ENJOY READING ABOUT ,,NOTHING ELSE….QUERINO DE-FREITAS
Hi Guys, Does anyone know what you can substitute for the yeast in this recipe? I am allergic to yeast. Help please as many recipes call for it. Thanks!
wow this is great! I replace the hot pepper powder with sriracha sauce!!!
Wow! This is a great recipe. I did add about 2/3 carton of frozen spinach, and used the food processor, and am thrilled with the result. My husband and 10-year-old daughter loved it too (and we are not officially vegan…just moving to vegan/vegetarian for at least half, if not more, of the week). I don’t think I’ll ever use ricotta in lasagna or this recipe again. I just don’t miss it (or the calories and sodium). I tried another recipe (from a different site) for a similar ricotta mixture with spinach, but I think yours is better and more complex with the sauteed vegetables and herbs. I am completely taken by your website and recipes. Every one I have tried has been amazing. I can’t wait for your cookbook to come out (although I’m not quite sure how you will top the recipes you’ve already published). Thank you!
Hi Diane, So glad this worked out for you. :) Thanks so much for your kind words!
OMG this was soooo delicious :o). Thanks for sharing.
When you say nutritional yeast do you mean the kind that comes in the dark little jar or nutritional yeast flakes?
Tikinyada Brand makes giant gluten free, vegan pasta shells. Not sure if you get those in Ontario but we get them here in B.C. Stay fab!
I’m going to try to get my meat-eating husband and sons to eat meat-free during the week so I need friendly recipes. I am going to start with this one!! Looking forward to your cookbook!!
When I’ve made tofu ricotta (though I’ve used a different recipe from this one), I put the tofu in a bowl and mash it up throughly with a fork. I suppose you could also use a potato masher if you have one (though I don’t). I usually use silken tofu because I like that texture.
Thank you for this AMAZING dinner !! this is my first week going vegetarian/vegan… and this was wonderful !!!!
yay so glad to hear that!
These turned out really good, much better than I expected. I wasn’t quite sold on how tofu could mimic cheese, but when combined with the sauce and shells it is quite good! I even bought some Parmesan for my husband just in case they turned out bland, but he loved them and didn’t need the parm. Thanks for another great recipe :)
Oh, and they looked exactly like the photo! Gorgeous!
I made this dish last night and it was such a huge hit! All of my children (and I have 6) loved it and wanted me to make it again. Thank you so much!
Just made these last night…so good!!! They were even hubby approved:) I usually do simple meals but the extra time I spent on these were well worth it.
Hi! I’m smack-dab in the middle of making this for Sunday dinner and was wondering…can the leftovers of this dish be frozen or will the tofu turn gnarly? Thanks is much, Danie
I haven’t tried freezing it yet, but I’ve heard that people freeze tofu with success. Maybe try freezing just a few to see?
Thank you for your response. This is completely off the topic of stuffed shells but still in the realm if freezing tofu in a recipe. With my usual pecan pie recipe, I double it and make three pies. I always freeze a couple. I know tofu turns spongy if it’s been frozen but do you know if silken tofu is the same way? I’ve yet to cook with it and am wondering if a pecan pie can be frozen if it’s made with silken tofu. I can’t find anyone who can answer this one–even the author of the cookbook (grrr).
I like this idea, but took it to another place via your inspiration. I made Vegan Stuffed Pasta Shells with cashew cream (rather than tofu) and a homemade sauce. Thanks for always giving great recipes! You have some seriously awesome stuff. http://carrotbowl.com/stuffed-shells/
I just made this tonight and it was amazing. My husband couldn’t believe there was tofu in the dish. Now I know this defeats the dairy free aspect of the recipe, but I added 4oz of soft goat cheese at the end of sautéing the mix. I’m lactose intolerant, but I can eat goat milk products. Another tip: Trader Joes high protein extra firm tofu is great if you want to skip the tofu water pressing stage. You can take it right out of the package and not have a watery mix!
Just made this recipe for supper – delish!! My kids had no idea it was tofu – they thought it was cheese:). Thanks for the great recipe – we will be making it again.
For gluten free shells I highly suggest Tinkyada brown rice shells. My husband is Italian and he actually likes these. We’re GF and now going dairy free as well.
I have the jumbo shells in the oven now (and I sampled along the way-yum!). I am not sure if I did something wrong, but I only had enough “ricotta” filling for about 15 shells :( Next time I will double the filling, but I was just checking.