Vegan-ish Stuffed Shells

One of my biggest issues with the term "dairy-free" is that when you search "dairy-free" you get 3,000 vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, feather-free...recipes. 

Now, I have nothing against veganism or allergen-free recipes, but 

1. We eat meat; 
2. We don't have any issues with gluten; 
3. While I am allergic to feathers, most recipes suggest that you pluck the chicken before baking; and 
4. Probably the biggest reason that I try to find recipes that don't call for dairy products to begin with, my husband won't eat tofu, soy cheese, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, rice cheese, anything that pretends to be cheese, anything that looks like it might be a replacement for cheese...

So I can't even try to sneak anything into a meal to see if he'll eat it. I mean if we normally ate macaroni and cheese, I could make a batch with soy and see how it goes, but if I put a plate of mac and cheese in front of him, he's on to me.

When I saw this recipe for vegan stuffed shells, I knew it wasn't something I would normally try, especially with someone who was acutely aware that any stuffed shells I serve must have some sort of dairy-free contraband. 

But I have to admit, these were great! I (no, really) could not tell the difference between what would normally be ricotta and what was now extra firm tofu and I loved the addition of spinach. And the sautéed onions and garlic I added really boosted the flavor. 

I also added a little ground beef (that's why they're vegan-ish) - call it a bribe to get the boy to try it.

The verdict - he ate them!

And more importantly, he liked them!

We're one step closer to vegan macaroni and cheese!

I made this as another one of my freezer meals so I've included those instructions below as well, but really this didn't take long to make at all.

Sauté onions and garlic, boil noodles, mix ingredients, stuff shells, add sauce, bake.

Enjoy!

Ingredients (adapted from PBS Food)

1 lb ground beef

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

16 ounces extra firm tofu

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (available at Whole Foods in the vitamin section)

10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed

1 box jumbo shells

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce 

I also added some pizza sauce because I like the sweeter sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Start to cook shells according to package directions until al dente.
3. Brown ground beef in skillet until throughly cooked. Remove from pan and set aside in large bowl.
4. Add olive oil to hot pan and sauté onions over medium-high heat until tender, add garlic and sauté for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add to reserved meat.
5. Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Add tofu, salt, oregano, and nutritional yeast to a food processor and process at high speed until the texture is similar to ricotta cheese.
6. Mix tofu mixture, meat and onion mixture, and spinach.
7. Pour 1/2 cup marinara sauce into bottom of 9x13 inch pan.
8. Assuming noodles are done by now, drain and spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of the tofu mixture into each noodle and place the shells seam side down into the pan. Repeat until all shells are stuffed.
9. Pour remaining sauce over shells and bake for 30 minutes.

If you're making this as a freezer meals, prepare shells as directed above, but put them in a freezer-compatible dish and freeze. When ready to cook, defrost completely and pop into the oven.