Friends coming round for dinner? Wondering what to cook? The beauty of this dish is that it looks great on the table, it’s creamy & indulgent, but it’s packed with healthy fibre & protein. You can also prep ahead, by making the tomato sauce the day before and the pasta filling an hour before baking. Perfect!
Ingredients:
Method:
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 400°F. To make the tomato sauce, put the oil in a large deep casserole dish over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
2
Pour in the tinned cherry tomatoes, 150ml / 5 fl oz of hot water (or add ½ a tin of hot water), the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and stock cube and stir. Bring to the boil and then stir through the basil and spinach until wilted.
3
Meanwhile, cook the pasta for 7–8 minutes until very al dente. Drain and run under cold water to cool slightly.
4
To make the filling, put all of the filling ingredients into a blender and blitz to create a really thick sauce. Spoon into a piping bag, if you have one.
5
Pipe or spoon the filling into the pasta shells and nestle the shells into the tomato sauce, filled-side facing up. Drizzle over some olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
6
Bake for 30–35 minutes until bubbling and crisp on top. Serve topped with a sprinkling of basil leaves and a pinch of chilli flakes.
Friends coming round for dinner? Wondering what to cook? The beauty of this dish is that it looks great on the table, it’s creamy & indulgent, but it’s packed with healthy fibre & protein. You can also prep ahead, by making the tomato sauce the day before and the pasta filling an hour before baking. Perfect!
Ingredients
for the tomato sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
(+ extra to drizzle)
1 onion
finely chopped
3 cloves garlic
grated
800g canned cherry tomatoes
(2 x 400g tins)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 vegetable stock cube
½ small bunch of basil
(about 10g / 0.4 oz) shredded (+ leaves to garnish)
handful of spinach
(about 30g / 1 oz) roughly chopped
for the filling
1 pack silken tofu
(about 300g / 10.6 oz)
1 lemon
juiced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 small clove garlic
1 handful of spinach
(about 30g / 1 oz)
8 tablespoons sunflower seeds
(about 75g / 2.6 oz)
3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
for the pasta
225g large pasta shells
(or we used Giganti Bombardoni Rigati)
pinch of dried red chilli flakes
(to garnish, optional)
pinch of sea salt & black pepper
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 400°F. To make the tomato sauce, put the oil in a large deep casserole dish over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
2
Pour in the tinned cherry tomatoes, 150ml / 5 fl oz of hot water (or add ½ a tin of hot water), the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and stock cube and stir. Bring to the boil and then stir through the basil and spinach until wilted.
3
Meanwhile, cook the pasta for 7–8 minutes until very al dente. Drain and run under cold water to cool slightly.
4
To make the filling, put all of the filling ingredients into a blender and blitz to create a really thick sauce. Spoon into a piping bag, if you have one.
5
Pipe or spoon the filling into the pasta shells and nestle the shells into the tomato sauce, filled-side facing up. Drizzle over some olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
6
Bake for 30–35 minutes until bubbling and crisp on top. Serve topped with a sprinkling of basil leaves and a pinch of chilli flakes.