Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells

Delicious plant-based pasta shells filled with creamy almond-tofu ricotta, nestled in a flavorful marinara, and garnished with vegan cheese and fresh basil.

For many years, I’ve served Italian dishes on Christmas Eve. It may be the red, white, and green colors; or it could be the combination of textures and flavors. There’s just something about the colorful marinara and pasta that just warms my soul. It’s such a contrast to the mashed potato feast the following day. For all of these reasons and more, I love these Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells!

What do you enjoy eating on Christmas Eve?

I enjoy serving these scrumptious Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells! If you’ve never made stuffed shells, don’t feel intimidated. It can be summarized in four fairly simple steps:

• Make or buy your marinara or spaghetti sauce.
• Boil your jumbo pasta shells.
• Make your plant-based ricotta cream.
• Fill and bake your stuffed shells.

Let’s start with the marinara. My Favorite Marinara is the perfect foundation and topping for these Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells. It should be no surprise since it is my favorite tomato sauce. Start by sautéing onions, carrots, and garlic. Then pour in the crushed tomatoes, herbs, and nutritional yeast. It takes all of five minutes to make and it tastes fantastic. No oil or sugar required.

Next up are your pasta shells. Any jumbo pasta shell will do. I use Barilla because that is what my local grocer carries. I’ve also successfully used Tinkyada’s gluten-free brown rice jumbo pasta shells. Be sure your water is at a rolling boil before adding your shells to the pot. Then boil your pasta for one to two minutes less than the recommend time. My box instructed me to boil the shells for nine minutes. I boiled them for eight minutes and they were perfect.

You want your shells al dente or cooked but firm. If they’re too soft, the pasta may rip or they may not hold their shell form well. And the whole point of these gorgeous darlings is the individual packaged serving. This is the reason these Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells make the best holiday dinner entree. Besides tasting incredible, they make a very nice presentation.

The next step is to make the creamy Almond-Tofu Ricotta. I like using a combination of slivered almonds and firm tofu. Slivered almonds are already peeled so they possess an ideal color schema for the ricotta, as does the tofu. I also like adding in a little Vegan Egg Batter or Just Egg. Though you can add just a little more tofu and milk instead. To create the ricotta, you’ll process the ingredients in a food processor for a minute or so. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender, but it’s super important to find the right balance though. You don’t want to use the highest speed setting since you aren’t making a smoothie or nut butter.

Essentially, you want the almonds and tofu to resemble ricotta – a creamy texture with bits of fine crumb. It should not be smooth per se’ but it shouldn’t be crunchy either. For this reason, I recommend tasting the mixture after one minute to determine if you’ve achieved the right texture. If it’s still a bit crunchy, pulse the mixture for 20 seconds and check again. Trust me, you’ll know when it’s just right. It will be thick and creamy but have little bits in it.

Once the texture is just right, add in the cheese and basil and pulse a couple of time to incorporate it.  Now you need to taste it to make sure you have enough garlic or nutritional yeast or lemon. You’ll want to adjust the seasonings to your taste preference. If you like more basil, garlic, or nutritional yeast, add it in now. I don’t add salt in this recipe, but you can certainly add it if you prefer. It will definitely enhance the flavor profile.

Before moving on to the final step, let’s talk cheese. For the best ricotta filling flavor, I like using a combination of vegan mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Even before going plant-based, this was my preference. For the mozzarella, I have successfully used my oil-free Vegan Mozzarella, Daiya, Follow your Heart, and Miyoko’s. For the parmesan, Violife and Follow Your Heart have tasty parmesan cheese options. But you can use any kind of vegan mozzarella or parmesan cheese shreds available.

Now comes the best part. We put it all together to create the most flavorful and delicious Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells. I like spreading a little marinara in the casserole dish before placing the shells in. This serves two purposes. The first is that it keeps the shells from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The second reason is that this tasty sauce flavors the shells well – you can never have too much marinara. That’s why you’re going to spoon some marinara over the top of your shells. You can either spread it all over the shells or be more selective. It’s completely up to you.

You now have the option to sprinkle more cheese on top of your stuffed shells. You can use mozzarella, parmesan, or a combination once again. Granted, the meltability solely depends on the cheese you are using. For this reason, I recommend loosely covering the shells with a sheet of aluminum foil for the first twenty to twenty-five minutes in the oven. This helps the cheese melt a little. You can remove the foil for the last five or ten minutes if you’d like. This is not a firm rule. It really depends whether or not you are satisfied with how you’re cheese has melted.

Once your Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells are nicely baked, I like garnishing these shells with a sprinkling of parsley or basil. I also recommend serving it with a little green. This can be steamed broccoli, a nice garden salad, green beans, asparagus, and so on. The choice is yours. But the green, red, and white palette is corresponds nicely with the colors of the Italian flag, as well as Christmas.

One final note. This is a great make-ahead dish. You can put everything together one to two days in advance and just keep it covered in the refrigerator. Then, place it in your oven and bake as directed. Because it was chilling in the fridge, you’ll want to check the center shell to ensure it is heated through. The fact that you can make in advance makes these Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells the perfect dish to serve for guests and holiday meals. Less stress the day of.

I hope you enjoy this Classic Vegan Stuffed Shells as much as I do.  

I’m just starting out and would love to see your results. Please leave a comment and rate it down below, tag a picture @pebblesandtoast and #pebblesandtoast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!   Enjoy!!   

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Marinara Sauce Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 16 oz canned crushed tomatoes
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic or 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend
• 1 tsp Herbs de Provence blend
• ¼ – ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• Salt to taste (optional)

Almond-Tofu Ricotta Ingredients

• 1½ cups slivered almonds*
• 1 cup plant milk
• ¼ cup Vegan Egg Batter or Just Egg**
• 8 ounces firm tofu
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• ½-1 tsp garlic powder
• ½-1 tsp onion powder
• ½ cup vegan parmesan (optional)
• ½ cup vegan mozzarella cheese (optional)
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh basil, chiffonade or 2 tsp dry basil
• Salt to taste (optional)

Stuffed Shells Ingredients

• 20-21 jumbo pasta shells
• 3 cups My Favorite Marinara (recipe above/instructions below) or spaghetti sauce
• Almond-Tofu Ricotta (recipe above/instructions below)
• ½-1 cup vegan mozzarella or parmesan cheese shreds***
• 1-2 Tbsp fresh parsley or basil, chiffonade (optional)

My Favorite Marinara Instructions

• In a large saucepan, sauté onions and carrots on medium-low heat until onions are translucent and carrots are cooked through.  Add a tablespoon of water to prevent sticking, as needed.
• Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1-2 minutes.  Set aside.

Almond-Tofu Ricotta Instructions

1. Combine the almonds, plant milk, tofu, nutritional yeast, vegan egg batter, lemon juice, garlic powder, and onion powder in a food processor or high-speed blender.
2. Using a food processor, process for 60-90 seconds.  (If using a high-speed blender, turn the knob to medium power (setting 5-6 on Vitamix) for 60-90 seconds.  Use the tamper as needed.) Blend or pulse until the almonds are broken down and finely chopped but not too smooth.  Taste the mixture to ensure the almonds aren’t too course.  The mixture should resemble a creamy ricotta – not chunky or crunchy, but not too smooth either.

1. Scoop the ricotta mixture into a bowl and stir in the cheese and basil.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Set aside.

Stuffed Shells Instructions

1. Boil the shells according to the package directions, until al dente, typically 9 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. Spread 1 cup of the marinara evenly across the bottom of a casserole dish. 
3. Spoon the almond ricotta mixture into each shell and place them in rows in the dish.

1. Spoon the marinara over the shells and sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese shreds.

1. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.  
2. Remove the foil and bake 5-10 more minutes, until cheese melts and marinara is bubbly. (You may need to bake 5-10 additional minutes if the shells were made in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)
3. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before serving.
4. Garnish with parsley or basil, if desired.

Notes

* Slivered almonds make incredible ricotta.  This is because they are softer and pale in color since they are peeled.  If you can’t use almonds, you can opt for soaked and rinsed cashews instead.

** I like using my Vegan Egg Batter in this recipe.  You can use additional tofu and milk if you don’t have access to split mung beans or Just Egg. 

*** You can use any kind of vegan mozzarella or parmesan cheese shreds.  I have successful used my plant-based and oil-free Vegan Mozzarella, Daiya, Follow your Heart, and Miyoko’s. You can also use as much or as little cheese as you want.