SOY-FREE OPTION* GLUTEN-FREE OPTION** OIL-FREE OPTION***
These are a great weekend dinner. You can double the recipe and freeze the second batch for a quick weeknight dinner. I love the extra lemony flavor of lemon basil, but you can use any basil.
YIELD: 20 shells
TOTAL PREP TIME: 25 minutes
TOTAL COOKING TIME: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups (537 g) cooked white beans or 2 cans (15 ounces, or 425 g each), rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) unsweetened nondairy milk (*use soy-free)
- 1/2 cup (20 g) chopped fresh basil (try lemon basil), thyme, or arugula
- 1/4 cup (24 g) nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 can (28 ounces, or 785 g) crushed tomatoes (with basil, if possible) or 3 cups (540 g) diced fresh tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or 1 clove garlic, minced
- 20 large pasta shells, cooked and cooled (**use gluten-free)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Oil an 11 × 8-inch (28 × 20 cm) casserole pan ***or use a nonstick pan.
- Put the beans, milk, basil, and nutritional yeast in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. This is your shell filling.
- In a bowl, combine the crushed tomatoes and herbs. This will be your sauce. You can substitute bottled or homemade pasta sauce in its place.
- Spread half of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Take each shell and add a heaping tablespoon (15 g) of filling and place it in the pan. Repeat until the pan is full and all the shells have been used.
- Spread the rest of the sauce over the top, cover with foil, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.
PER SHELL: 103 calories; 0.6 g total fat; 0.2 g saturated fat; 5.4 g protein; 19.6 g carbohydrate; 2.9 g
dietary fiber; 0 mg cholesterol.
