Hi Friends!
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the weekend! And here is something to start you off on the right foot…
I’m not sure what propelled me to roast an eggplant and toss it in the tofu filling for these jumbo shells.
Sadly, this is the first time I’ve eaten eggplant in a very long time. How could I have been missing out on such an amazing vegetable!
Vegan Tofu Ricotta and Eggplant Stuffed Shells
Servings: 18
Calories: 94kcal
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- salt for eggplant
- 21 ounces extra firm tofu or 1 and 1/2 blocks
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 3/4 cups frozen spinach
- 1 1/2 -2 teaspoon salt (Or to taste, and yes, I know this is the second time salt is listed. :))
- 1 1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 20 jumbo pasta shells
Instructions
- Slice the top off of your eggplant. Then, cut it in half lengthwise. Score each half as if you were going to cut it into cubes when you’re done roasting it.
- Sprinkle each eggplant half generously with salt– in the scored cuts as well. Now, you’ll let your eggplant halves sit, cut side up, for about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F towards the end of the 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, you’ll notice that each eggplant has quite a bit of water droplets on the top and in the cuts of it. Squeeze each eggplant half gently over the sink, and let the salty water run out.
- Now, put your eggplant in a rimmed baking pan that is lined with either parchment paper or a silicon liner. Brush each eggplant half with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then place each half cut side down on to your baking sheet.
- Bake your eggplant for about 40-45 minutes, or until the eggplant has mostly collapsed, and the inside is soft and mushy.
- While your eggplant is baking, you can get started on your filling and cook your jumbo pasta shells.
- Cook your jumbo pasta shells according to package instructions. I like to boil mine in an uncovered pot of salted water for about 11-13 minutes.
- In a medium frying pan, saute 1 clove of minced garlic and onion with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When your garlic and onion have been cooking for about 1 minute, add your frozen spinach to the mixture, and cook everything until the spinach is just thawed.
- In a medium sized bowl, mash your tofu with a fork until it is crumbly. Take about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of your crumbled tofu and put it in your blender with 1/4 cup cashews and 1/4 cup water. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour blender contents back into medium sized bowl, and add garlic, onion, salt, yeast flakes, basil, and the spinach mixture as well. Mix it up. :)
- Once your eggplant is finished roasting, use a spoon to scrape out the eggplant contents from the skin, and put them directly into your tofu mixture. Stir it up!
- Stuff your shells with your eggplant tofu mixture, and place in a bed of your favorite marinara in a 9 X 13 in baking dish. Pour a little more marinara on top of your shells. At this point, you can sprinkle a little of your favorite vegan cheese on top, if you want. But, I just left it out.
- Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, or until your tofu filling is just starting to turn more golden/yellow.
- Serve hot.
Notes
While the ingredients call for 20 shells, I found that I used up all of my filling with 18 shells. Usually a few shells are damaged beyond repair with the boiling process, which is why I recommend cooking 20 shells total, just on case. ;)
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Nutrition
Calories: 94kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 182mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 770IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 0.9mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @VeganYumminess or tag #VeganYumminess!
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Who knew tofu would come in so handy in these stuffed shells?! This is definitely a must-try in my book!
Thanks, Chung-Ah! I’ll just throw it out there: I LOVE tofu! :) Thanks for stopping by. I LOVE your blog, by the way, kind of the same way that I love tofu. hehe ;)
http://herbonherbs.com
I like tofu but I’ve never prepared it, so I am excited to have a recipe to follow! And a yummy-looking one, at that!
http://thefrostedvegan.com
You must have read my mind, I was JUST thinking about how to make a stuffed shells dish vegan! Thank you!
I’m definitely trying this however I have cut out my beloved pasta so for the shells I will use zucchini! Can’t wait to try this!!!!
Don’t know how I feel about pasta shells with no :( cheese! But if it tastes as good as it looks than I’m up for anything. Gonna try this next week with whole wheat shells.
Just tried these and was surprised at how much I liked them! Thanks! I didn’t use the yeast flakes because I couldn’t find them, but everything came out just fine without!
How would you recommend going about freezing them?
Are the pasta shells vegan?
What brand do you use?
This was my First time trying this recipe and I must say it was absolutely delicious
!! I didn’t use the flakes but we did put mushrooms inside the tofu mix and it tasted great. So grateful for your recipe we’re new to the vegetarian lifestyle and this help a bunch.
These came out amazing. I even had requests for the recipe after putting a picture of my finished shells on facebook. Thank you for a delicious comfort food recipe.
Thank you for posting this recipe I am making it today can’t wait to eat it.
Hope you have more recipes
I made this recipe last night and it was delicious! I followed the recipe closely—only adding in additional salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to the filling mixture. This is definitely a meal I will make again. Thank you!
Great, Hannah! Thanks for your sweet comment. :)
Is the tofu absolutely necessary for the ricotta texture. Can I omit it and the result be fine or is there something you can recommend as a substitute?
Thanks for your questions! In response to #2, read Isaiah 53… and really absorb what He did for us! And, remember all year as He asked us to… by celebrating what He did for His disciples during that last supper… and by celebrating the one thing He asked us to remember in Exodus 20! Such a joy-filled Day! My kids’ favorite of the week! :)Praise God for His incredible love and grace! Your shells look and sound delicious! Thanks for a new recipe! I make tofu ricotta shells, but this is a new twist I’d love to try!
Hi! Just wanted to RAVE about this dish. We don’t even eat vegan, but this dish is amazing! We just wanted something healthier and lighter and this fit the bill perfectly! Also, this is the first time cooking with tofu AND eggplant. Even my 3 year old and 18 month old LOVED this! It’s just a great alternative to heavy cheesy shells so thank you for sharing! I will be passing it along to all my friends!
Do you press the tofu first.
I don’t. I just drain the liquid off of the tofu the best that I can, and crumble it right up.
Can the stuffing be made in advance and frozen?
Trying to meal plan for the week…
Yes, but any time you freeze tofu, the texture will change slightly to be a little more spongey. It’ll still be delicious, but just want you to know about that. Personally, I would assemble the stuffed shells completely with marinara sauce (aside from baking them in the end) and freeze them in a baking dish that way. I have done this in the past, and it turned out delicious. :)