Vegan Baked Ziti
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
10 oz baby bella mushrooms
1 bag baby spinach
5 oz grape tomatoes, halved
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
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.
Tofu Ricotta
- 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.
- In a large saute pan, saute the mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- Add the can of marinara to the vegetables when they’re tender and combine.
- 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.
- Combine the cooked pasta with the sauce and then add the mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle with a little vegan parmesan and nutritional yeast.
- Bake covered for 40 minutes and then uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes until pasta is golden brown.
Vegan Baked Ziti
