I have wanted to try making pasta filled with spinach and ‘ricotta’ tofu for a while. And now I finally have! I have read a lot of recipes for this, some fairly simple, some more complicated. In the end I decided to just wing it and make my own recipe. Well, is it a recipe when you have to try and reconstruct the ingredients after the fact because you just make it up as you go along? :-)
So adjust the ingredients in this recipe to your liking. For example, I used 1.5 clove of garlic in the sauce, and the same in the ‘ricotta’ mix but I think it was a mistake in the ricotta because something was just slightly too garlic-y (and I do like garlic!). So I have adjusted the ingredients list to 1 clove for both. But by all means, add more if you want!
Serves 2-3 people, depending on how hungry they are. You could stretch it to 4 people by adding a side of some kind. And maybe a bit of bread so you can mop up the marinara sauce that will inevitably be left on your plate, fare la scarpetta. :-)
Marinara sauce:
1 clove of garlic, grated
10 ml olive oil
3 large tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
A tiny pinch of chili flakes (optional)
Salt & pepper
Spinach and ‘ricotta’ tofu mix:
1 clove of garlic, grated
200 gr silken tofu
15 ml olive oil
Approximately 100 gr spinach, roughly chopped (frozen works too, remember to defrost first.)
Topped tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt & pepper
Other ingredients:
16 conchiglioni pasta shapes
Grated cheese (optional)
Olive oil (optional)
How to make it:
Fill a large (minimum 2litres) saucepan with water plus a tablespoon of cooking salt. Put on the stove at high heat. Once the water comes to the boil, add the shells one at a time so they are less like to get stuck inside one another. Turn down the heat so the water doesn’t boil over. Cook to al dente according to packet instructions. Make sure not to overcook the pasta because it will cook more in the oven.
Meanwhile, get started on the marinara sauce:
Add olive oil and garlic to a saucepan at medium heat. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, add the tomatoes and rosemary. Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently so they don’t stick. When the tomatoes start to break down, add the tomato puree. Let the puree caramelise ever so slightly and then add 100 ml of water. Mix everything together, then add the rest of the herbs and spices. Let it cook for about 5 minutes without a lid, then add another 50ml of water. Taste the sauce; add more salt and/or herbs if required.
In between keeping a eye on the pasta and making the marinara sauce, put together the spinach and “ricotta” filling:
Rinse and roughly chop the spinach. Drain the water from the silken tofu. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix it together. I used a whisk but a spoon works too. Set aside while the two other components finish cooking.
When the pasta has finished cooking, drain the water and put the shapes on a plate. Separate the conchiglioni if they have got stuck inside each other while cooking.
Turn on the oven to preheat, 200°C fan (220°C regular oven).
Pour the marinara sauce into an oven proof dish. The one I used measures approximately 13 x 26 x 5 cm (inside the dish) and it was just large enough to hold all the cooked conchiglioni. You can get an idea of how the pasta will fit in your dish by putting the pasta shapes in the dish before you boil them. If the uncooked pasta takes up more than 50-60% of the space, then the cooked version won’t fit.
Fill the cooked conchiglioni with 1 tablespoon of the ‘ricotta’ mix. Place them on top of the marinara sauce in the ovenproof dish. Sprinkle a handful of grated (vegan) cheese on top, followed by a bit of olive oil. (You can skip both if you prefer.)
Cover the dish with foil and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve piping hot. Enjoy!
