Vegan Stuffed Shells

Ah, cheese… One of the infamous culinary culprits that often prevents many vegetarians from transitioning to an all-out vegan diet.  As with many others, I used to be addicted to cheese…  sliced cheese, grilled cheese, cheese sticks, cheese on pizza, cheese on nachos, cheese on pasta, cheese on burgers…  the list is as endless as we’re willing to allow.  However, vegans now have many options for getting their ‘cheese fix’.  There are many readily-prepared and packaged substitute cheese products now available in the ‘Nature/Organic/Vegan’ section of most grocery stores.  In addition, there are several basic cheese replacements that are easy to prepare at home with just a few common ingredients.

For today’s delicious culinary creation, vegan stuffed shells, we’re going to be making the ricotta out of almonds and the Parmesan out of cashews.  Read on for the recipes…

The Sauce

When it comes to Italian cooking, everyone should get comfortable making homemade tomato sauce.  While the jarred variety always works in a pinch, this particular dish included, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as whipping up a homemade batch, letting it simmer all afternoon on the range…  cooking it down to a think, hearty, delectable consistency, while a handful of mouth-watering aromas assault your kitchen, as well as your senses.  You can cook the sauce the same day, but I find it’s best to make it a day or more ahead of time, giving the flavors a chance to combine, fester, and meld.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium or 1 large onion finely diced
• 1-2 medium carrots – grated or chopped
• 1 bell pepper (pick a color of your choice) – finely chopped
• 6-8 cloves of garlic – minced
• 2 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 2 Tbs oregano
• 2 Tbs dried basil OR (preferably) ½ cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp sea salt…  more or less to taste
• ¼ tsp chili pepper flakes…  for a bit of a kick
• 2-4 Tbs maple syrup…  to tame that monstrous acidity

The Steps:

Preheat a large saucepan on medium to medium high heat (about 6 out of 10 on your burner dial).  Add 1 Tbs light olive oil and wait a few minutes to allow it to come to temperature, swirling it around the bottom of the pan.  Sauté the onion, carrots, and peppers for 5-10 minutes, until the onions are translucent and starting to brown, stirring frequently.  If the veggies start to stick, just toss in a splash of water to loosen them from the pan.  Add the garlic and sauté for about two more minutes until golden.  Be sure not to burn the garlic.

Lower the heat to just below medium, and add all of your canned ingredients to the pan… including the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir to combine thoroughly.  Add the oregano, basil, sea salt, and hot pepper flakes, and then stir some more.  Once the sauce begins bubbling, drop the heat to low/simmering level.

Now, you may begin tasting for seasoning.  It will probably be a bit sharp/acidic at the moment.  (I don’t even know what ‘sharp’ means… I just wanted to add another word to clarify ‘acidic’.)  Add 2 Tbs of the maple syrup, stir thoroughly, and taste again.  You may be good to go, but you can add more maple syrup and/or salt, if necessary.  At this point, you can drop the heat to super-low, partially cover the sauce, and let it simmer gently anywhere from 30 minutes to 87 hours.  If simmering for 87 hours, be sure to call in help to monitor the pot/stove while you sleep during overnights.  Never leave an operating stove unattended.

The Vegan Ricotta (Basic, Unseasoned)

I’ve sampled vegan ricotta made from several different types of nuts, as well as tofu.  By far, my favorite version is made with slivered, blanched almonds.  It’s so easy to prepare, store, and use, that it may as well be a crime.  If you make this ricotta and end up getting arrested, don’t use your one phone call from the station on me.  I certainly didn’t force you to prepare this.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw, blanched almonds w/o the skins
• 1 cup water
• Salt

The Steps:

If you plan ahead, cover the almonds with water and soak them for 8-12 hours… either overnight or during your workday is always a good strategy.  On the other hand, if you’re like me, you’re not good at planning ahead.  In that case, add the almonds to an appropriately-sized pot, cover them with water, add the lid, and bring them to a boil.  Reduce heat and boil gently for about 15 minutes with the lid partially off.

Drain the almonds and add them to a blender, along with the water and salt.  Blend until light, fluffy, and creamy… but not completely smooth.  We’re not looking for plaster of Paris consistency… (how many people know what plaster of Paris actually is?  I always got it confused with milk of magnesia growing up… ).  Anyways, be sure to stop the blender frequently to scrape the larger chunks off the side of the container, coaxing them towards the blade.

Seasoning the Vegan Ricotta for Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 Tbs nutritional yeast
• 1-2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2-4 cloves of garlic – minced
• Ground pepper

The Steps:

Dump all of the unseasoned almond ricotta into a large mixing bowl, add the above ingredients, and mix well.  Add additional salt and pepper, if necessary.

Once you’ve tried the basic recipe above, you can get creative by addition additional ingredients to your ricotta filling.  I like to add a cup of frozen spinach.  Be sure to thaw the spinach before adding it to the mixture.

The Vegan Parmesan Cheese:

In addition to this recipe, this easy-to-make Parmesan substitute can be sprinkled or added to any recipe that calls for traditional Parmesan.  I always sprinkle it liberally all over my pizza and pasta.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup raw cashews
• 3 Tbs nutritional yeast
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¾ tsp sea salt

The Step:

Add all of the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until you have a product of… um… Parmesan-like consistency.  This will last for several weeks in the fridge.

Putting It All Together:

And now, for the payoff… Boil/prepare 25-28 jumbo pasta shells, according to the directions on the box.  I’m not going to explain how to boil water.  If you can’t handle that, then you have bigger problems than figuring out how to make dinner and eat.  Drain the cooked shells in a colander and rinse them under cold water to halt any additional cooking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Cover the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish with a liberal amount of the marinara sauce.  Fill each cooked shell with a healthy, yet reasonable amount of ricotta filling, and arrange the shells in rows in the baking dish.  Cover the shells liberally with another helping of the marinara sauce.  You may or may not have leftover sauce, depending on how deeply you bury your shells.  Sprinkle a generous amount of the vegan Parmesan cheese over the sauce, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly.  Test the inside of one of the shells to be sure the filling is heated uniformly throughout.

You’ll probably end up using 22-23 shells total, but it’s good to boil several extra in case you mangle or destroy a few of them.  I always like to dip the extra shells in leftover sauce and nosh them like a glutton, while waiting for the main event to bake.

Finally, serve to all your vegan and non-vegan friends, and prepare to be showered with compliments, when they all tell you how much the filling tastes like regular ricotta.

Again… If you’re expecting company or hosting a Holiday gathering, this is a great recipe to prepare ahead of time.  You can actually prepare the filling, assemble the shells, and stash the covered 13×9 in the fridge for a day or two before baking them.  If you do store them in the fridge for a day or more, you may want to increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes, as the chilled shells may require just an extra bit of oomph to come to temperature.  Just test the inside after 30 minutes, and adjust the baking time, as necessary.