Anyone else always get Sbarro ziti in the food court growing up on a long day of shopping with your mom? Even though you were lactose intolerant? Only me…? Not the best decision I might add.

This is also something my mom used to make, and then it became my go-to in high school  meal when all of my friends would come over. So instead of filling this baked ziti with ground beef, Ragu, and a variety of cheeses, I came up with a plant based version that still has the creamy tomato sauce and the crunchy noodles on the top (my favorite part!) The tofu becomes a ricotta, and then it’s mixed with mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and marinara make a pink sauce. I used whole wheat ziti and combined that with my sauce and sprinkled about a tbsp of Follow Your Heart Parmesan for the top. It still blows my mind that by just eating these veggies and pasta, my protein percentage was over where I wanted it to be for this meal. It’s 23% protein, 15% fat, and 62% carbs.

                      Vegan Baked Ziti

serves 8

1 lb whole wheat ziti noodles

1 large can low fat Tuscan Marinara, TJ’s or Rao’s Marinara if you’re okay with oil

10 oz baby bella mushrooms

1 bag baby spinach

5 oz grape tomatoes, halved

1 zucchini, halved and sliced

1 tbsp Follow Your Heart Parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

Tofu Ricotta

1 lb extra firm organic tofu

2 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp italian seasoning

2 tsp minced garlic

Lemon juice

3 tbsp water

salt and pepper to taste

• You can use as much ricotta in the recipe as you’d like, I used it all and it was a tad too pink so next time I’ll start with half and add in more if I want more.

1. Preheat oven to 400* and prepare the tofu ricotta. Drain the tofu and cube it, then add to the food processor or mixer and blend with other ingredients.
2. In a large saute pan, saute the mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini, and spinach with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
3. Add the can of marinara to the vegetables when they’re tender and combine.
4. Add the ricotta to the sauce, I’d start with half and then work your way up to the amount you’d like. I dumped it all and it was a little too pink for what I was going for, so I had to add a little more marinara. 
5. Combine the cooked pasta with the sauce and then add the mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
6. Sprinkle with a little vegan parmesan and nutritional yeast.
7. Bake covered for 40 minutes and then uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes until pasta is golden brown.