Protein packed Italian food filled with hidden veggies? Yes please! These vegan stuffed shells with cauliflower ricotta won't let you down.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
So where do you get your protein? I'm sure many of you plant-based friends have heard that a time or two...Or ten. I'm here to give you yet another great answer to that question. Stuffed shells. Really? Yep.
I've stuffed these babies with a low fat (you read that right) version of typical cashew based ricotta. I replaced half of the nuts with cauliflower to make this creamy delicious cauliflower ricotta that will blow your mind. And taste buds too! Get ready to rumble people.
Hiding protein everywhere!
When my next job assignment with the Silk brand was to showcase their NEW Protein Nutmilk, I took it and ran. It's easy to throw that amazing protein boost in a smoothie, pudding, or other sweet treat. But the real question is, can you really use it for other stuff?
I'm proving right here, right now, the answer to that is a big fat yes. My hubby questioned my creativity on this one, but you heard crickets as he shoveled these babies into his mouth.
Ingredients are everything
The key to getting that perfect taste using this new protein milk is the right combination of ingredients. The milk comes in two varieties, low sugar and vanilla (that has more sweetness in it). Make sure for savory uses you grab the low sugar. Don't ask me how I learned this lesson the hard way. **hides trash full of failed recipe trial**
Both of them are soy free, use a combo of almond and cashew milk and the protein is from 100% peas. There are 10 grams of plant based protein in every cup! This is a pretty thick milk, so perfect in my opinion to put in recipes for added creaminess.
Reasons to snuggle this cauliflower ricotta:
- Lower in fat than traditional cashew ricotta.
- Added protein.
- Stuff it in anything from shells to simply your mouth.
- Simple blend and ready recipe.
- Added greens, so basically it has everything.
Other high protein recipes you will love:
- Fast High Protein Mexican Fiesta Pasta Salad
- Salted Caramel Pretzel Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie
- Baked Protein Packed Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Dip
Vegan Stuffed Shells With Cauliflower Ricotta
Ingredients
- 20 jumbo shells
- 1 cup raw cauliflower (cut into small enough pieces to fill the cup)
- ½ cup raw cashews (see note)
- ½ cup raw almonds (see note)
- ½ cup unsweetened cashew or almond milk (or use low sugar Silk Protein Nutmilk for a higher protein meal)
- ½ cup veggie broth , low sodium if needed
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup fresh spinach
Roasted Tomato Sauce:
- 8 cloves garlic , chopped
- 19 tablespoons veggie broth , low sodium if needed (1 cup plus 3 tablespoons, see note)
- 56 ounces diced fire roasted tomatoes (two 28 ounce cans)
- 1 cup fresh basil , chopped
- 2 teaspoons sea salt (not needed if tomatoes have salt)
Almond Cashew Parmesan:
- ½ cup raw almonds
- 2 tablespoons raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt (add up to ¼ teaspoon more if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)
- Cook shells to al dente texture, according to package directions. I cooked mine for about 6 minutes.
Make the roasted tomato sauce:
- Add the chopped garlic and 2 tablespoons of veggie broth (or you can use a drizzle of oil) and sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Then add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat down to medium-low. Allow to simmer while preparing the rest of the meal.
Make almond cashew Parmesan:
- Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until you get a crumbled Parmesan like texture.
make ricotta filling
- Blend cauliflower, cashews, almonds, nutmilk, broth, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor. Keep blending until you get a ricotta like texture.
- Add in spinach and pulse to incorporate.
Assemble shells:
- When the shells are done, rinse with cold water so they aren’t too hot to handle.
- Put 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.
- Stuff each shell with 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons of filling and place side by side in the baking dish.
- Drizzle the rest of the tomato sauce on top, then sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmesan.
- Bake covered for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Allow to set about 5-10 minutes after baking. Serve while still nice and warm!
Notes
- Recipe makes 20 shells, servings size is 4 shells.
- Because you are not looking for a perfectly smooth texture, and because you are baking this dish, you do not need to soak your nuts. I did not. However if you want a smoother ricotta you can.
- You can also use a drizzle of oil instead of the 2 tablespoons of veggie broth to sauté the garlic.
- If you want to use the ricotta as a topping for something, use less liquid to make it thicker and more stable. Start with only a few tablespoons of each liquid and add more to get the texture you like.
- Make ricotta, tomato sauce and parmesan.
- Serve ricotta filling with very cooked mushed pasta shells, make sure ricotta is pureed well. Simply cut into small pieces for older baby.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
Grandma
I doubled the recipe with tweaks. I blanched the almonds and removed the skins. I used frozen cauliflower rice. I had a cup of frozen frozen collard greens so I tossed them in. I used soy milk to loosen the ricotta rather than almond milk, to boost the protein. Rao's marinara purchased at Costco is vegan and delicious, so I used that. I also topped with a sprinkling of Costco vegan mozzarella. I served this to 2.5 year old twins and their non-vegan parents. Everyone loved it! The crunch of the nuts was especially good. The double batch of stuffing filled 1 big box of shells. I have a container for the freezer. Highly recommended for vegan and non-vegans.
Sophia DeSantis
Thank you so much!! I love your additions/modifications, and I'm so glad you liked this recipe too!
Laura
What is the trans fat from? It seems like the fat content must be completely off. 25 total but then the breakdown only adds up to 6 or something.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Laura, the calculation is made automatically with my recipe card internal calculator. I did update it with the info from the actual brands I used but that will change with each brand. As far as I can tell it looks about right.
Sabrina
Hi. Is there anything else I can use instead of cauliflower for the ricotta?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Sabrina! Absolutely, I have another ricotta that is all nuts instead of cauliflower. Try this one: https://www.veggiesdontbite.com/cashew-ricotta-you-cant-even-tell/
anne halson
I imagine you could you use broccoli instead.
veggiesdontbite
Absolutely Anne! Broccoli would work great!
Kate
1849mg of Sodium??? Are you kidding???
veggiesdontbite
Hi Kate. The plugin was counting salt in the tomato cans and the extra if your cans did not have salt. So it's fixed now.
Denise
Made this tonight. Some questions? I found the recipe made a lot more than 1/4 cup of the nut parmesean. Was that on purpose? Also, the tomato sauce made a lot more than a cup and drizzling over top of shells. Was that right? I feel like the cup of broth was excessive. It’s in the oven now so we’ll see how it turns out. I’m just a little confused on the quantities. Thanks!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Denise! Yes, the nut parm will make more, I do that on purpose in case people want to add more on top later or keep it for another day. As for the sauce, the broth is correct, you just need to let it reduce and simmer longer. It helps with the flavor. However if you want it faster, you could reduce the broth too! Hope it turned out good!