Dairy Free Stuffed Shells

Ok, stuffed shells are delicious. I could eat them every single day...then I would gain 100lbs and that would probably not be too cute. So the other day when I was craving some comfort food,I thought about a recipe that had intrigued me a while ago.....these dairy free stuffed shells. So let's just clear the air right now, these shells are stuffed with tofu...but please believe me you will NOT miss the cheese in these...they are delicious. Ok you still might not believe me because maybe once you came to my house and I tried to tell you that steamed and whipped cauliflower tasted exactly like mashed potatoes (which I stand by) so don't take my word for it but you must try these, they are awesome. As a matter of fact I think they taste even richer than real ricotta....which is crazy but crazy true....

So let's get started....
Grab a block of your favorite tofu... extra firm

Drain it, pat it dry and add it to the food processor with the other ingredients....

Then whir it up, add the drained & defrosted spinach and whir it up some more...

At this point Emily and Rob were dipping pita chips into the food processor until I forced them to stop so I could stuff the shells...

Grab your favorite pasta sauce (the more garlic the better in my most humble opinion)

Cook the pasta until al dente and stuff them with the faux cheese mixture

Lay them in the pyrex on a thin layer of sauce

and then cover them with sauce

then wait for the magic

mmmmmmmm

Ours was enjoyed with a salad and a giant piece of garlic bread.

Enjoy!

Recipe:
 from Eat Live Run on the PBS Website

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 16 ounces extra firm tofu
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1 box jumbo shells
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

Directions

1. Drain the tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Crumble into the bowl of a food processor or high-speed blender along with olive oil, salt, oregano, garlic and nutritional yeast. Process on high until smooth and “ricotta-like”.
2. Add the defrosted spinach to the blended tofu mixture.
3. Cook shells in boiling salted water until el dente. Drain
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour about ½ cup pasta sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Stuff shells with 2 T of filling and place in pan, seam side down. Repeat until all shells have been stuffed.
5. Pour remaining pasta sauce over shells, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Serve!

Yield: 6-8 servings