Try this popular Italian/American pasta dish with plant-based, dairy-free ricotta cream made with cauliflower, cashews, basil, and lemon. This recipe is a perfect meal for anyone that loves creamy, rich, baked pasta. I tested this recipe several times with a variety of dairy-free options including a store-bought almond milk ricotta and a plant-based mozzarella. Once I tried this version, though, I knew it would be the one I would continue to remake over and over. There are many reasons I prefer this one, but I especially like that there are no unique ingredients or plant-based products needed to get the rich flavor and creamy consistency in every bite.
A Little About The Recipe
No Cashew Soaking - Another bonus with this recipe is not needing to soak the cashews overnight as most recipes typically call for. They can go right in with the cauliflower and boil together. I have tried it both ways, soaking them the day before then draining and adding them to the cauliflower boil. I found that soaking the cashews first before they are blended into a cream removes their natural oil and results in a slightly less nutty flavor.
Ricotta Cream Origins - The original ricotta cream recipe was discovered through another vegan cook and I have linked her original recipe in my recipe card below and her food blog here. I absolutely adore her; she is worth checking out!
Baked Rigatoni
Prep time: 45 mins. Cook time: 50 mins. Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
Marinara Ingredients:
2 Tb. olive oil
4-6 cloves of garlic - minced
2-28 oz. cans of chopped tomatoes
1-15 oz. can of tomato sauce
2 Tb. dried oregano
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2-6 tsp. granulated sugar
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Creamy Ricotta Ingredients:
(Original recipe can be found here)
1 medium cauliflower - chopped into large pieces
2 1/2 c. cashews
1/3 c. olive oil (plus more if needed)
28 g. fresh basil (about 1 oz.)
2-3 lemons - juiced
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
Other Ingredients:
1 lb. uncooked rigatoni noodles
5 oz. fresh spinach (about 3 big handfuls)
Equipment:
Large pot with lid
Medium-sized pot or large skillet
Blender
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 F
1. Make the Marinara Sauce
In a medium-sized pot or skillet over med/high heat, saute minced garlic in olive oil for one minute.
Add chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, spices (except sugar) and salt and pepper to the sauce then bring everything to a low simmer.
Once simmering, add sugar 1 tsp. at a time until the acidity and sweetness of marinara is to your preference.
Allow marinara to simmer on low, stirring occasionally, while preparing the remaining ingredients.
2. Make the Ricotta Cream Sauce
Cut the raw cauliflower into large pieces then add them and the cashews to a large pot of boiling water, cooking until softened. About 10 minutes.
While the cauliflower and cashews are boiling, add basil, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to the blender.
Once the cauliflower and cashews are softened, scoop them out of the boiling water and add them to the blender (You can drain the cauliflower and cashews into a colander instead, but I scoop everything out so I can reuse the water for cooking the pasta and don't have to reheat more water).
Blend the ingredients on the highest blender setting until everything is combined into a completely smooth, creamy texture. Add additional olive oil, lemon juice, or salt as needed until the desired flavor is achieved.
Set aside.
3. Cook Pasta
Bring the pot of water used for the cauliflower and cashews back up to a boil then add the uncooked rigatoni noodles.
To avoid soft noodles, only boil the noodles for half the time recommended on the pasta's package instructions. The noodles will continue to cook while in the oven.
Drain cooked noodles and set aside.
4. Assemble and Bake
To a rectangular baking dish, add a small amount of marinara sauce to cover the bottom of the dish.
For the first layer, start by adding about 1/3 of the noodles to the dish, ladle marinara sauce over the noodles to cover, then spread about 1/3 of the ricotta cream over the noodles and marinara.
Add a handful of spinach before starting the next layer.
Continue to layer the noodles, marinara, ricotta, and spinach until the baking dish is nearly full.
For the last layer, smooth a mix of marinara sauce and the remaining ricotta cream over the top layer of pasta. This will help keep the ricotta cream from browning too much while baking.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy! xoxo
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