Nutrition
Calories: 642kcal | Carbohydrates: 55.5g | Protein: 47.2g | Fat: 21.8g | Fiber: 10g
This high protein pumpkin ricotta shell recipe is great for meal prepping, as it makes six servings. It’s bringing all the cozy, Fall vibes! The macro magic (we’re talking 31% protein on a calorie basis) comes from the tofu ricotta filling and the creamy garlicky sauce that’s made from extra firm silken tofu and nutritional yeast. I like topping it with Follow Your Heart Parmesan because it gets a little crunchy and adds a textural element to the dish. Be sure to top it off with a little bit of fresh sage too!
Servings servings
Ingredients
Ricotta Filling
- 2 blocks high protein extra firm tofu I used Wildwood
- 1/2 cup Soy Milk unsweetened
- 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
Garlicky Sauce
- 1 package Extra Firm Silken Tofu (Mori-Nu 12.3oz package)
- 3/4 cup soy milk unsweetened
- 1 onion diced
- 2 bulbs garlic minced
- 1 lemon juiced
- 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Other Ingredients
- 1 box Jumbo shells; you’ll use about 30
- 1 1/2 containers Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan
- leaves fresh sage thinly cut, amount based on preference
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- In a pot of boiling water, cook pasta per package instructions. Once cooked, drain and leave sitting in cold water so that they don’t stick together.
- In a food processor, blend all the ingredients listed under the ricotta filling together
- In a medium-low heat pan, saute the onions until translucent.
- Add in the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning.
- In a blender, blend together your cooked onion and garlic and all of the other ingredients listed under Garlicky Sauce
- In a casserole dish, pour some of your sauce on the bottom.
- Divvy your ricotta filling up amongst your 30 shells and fill them - lay them in the casserole dish. You will likely need to stack a few.
- Once all the shells are in the casserole dish, top with the rest of your sauce - spread evenly
- Sprinkle the parmesan on top, and throw in a little bit of the fresh sage (I prefer mine in very small, thin pieces so it doesn’t overpower)
- Cook in the oven for 35 - 40 minutes. I like to broil for a couple minutes at the end to brown and crisp the parmesan
Equipment
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Notes
Track this on My Fitness Pal searching:
PDV High Protein Pumpkin Ricotta Shells with Garlicky Sauce
Did you make this recipe?Mention @proteindeficient.vegan
Additional Information:
- This could be made gluten-free if the pasta was swapped out for a chickpea or lentil variety.
- If you are running low on time, you could use store-bought vegan ricotta instead; you will not get the same calories and macros though
This is not a quick recipe to make, but in my opinion, it’s worth it! This recipe makes six servings so it’s great for meal prepping for one or two people or for a large family. It’s the perfect cozy dinner for when it’s chilly outside!
Ingredients
- Extra/super firm tofu – I like to use super firm tofu because it doesn’t require pressing. If you’re using extra firm tofu, make sure you press it beforehand to get out the extra moisture! If you don’t have a tofu press, books or a heavy pan/pot work well too.
- Extra Firm Silken Tofu – make sure you use silken tofu for this otherwise the sauce will not turn out like sauce! There are two types of silken tofu – refrigerated and shelf-stable. You can usually find at least one of these options at most grocery stores, but if you can’t, you can buy the shelf-stable variety online. I like the brand Mori-Nu and typically use their Extra Firm Silken Tofu. Any silken tofu will work for this recipe though.
- Soy Milk – this is my favorite plant-based milk because it has the best macros, but any plant-based milk will work fine!
- Pumpkin puree – I use canned, but if you are legit fancy, fresh will work too!
- Nutritional yeast – if you’re newer to plant-based cooking, nutritional yeast is a shelf stable ingredient that’s used to add a cheesy/savory taste to recipes. It’s also surprisingly high in protein! You can find it at most grocery stores and order it online. There is fortified which has B12 and non-fortified in case you see both!
- Garlic powder, basil, Italian seasoning, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, onion powder, salt.
- Onion – I prefer sweet, yellow or white onions for this recipe.
- Garlic – I like to use fresh garlic, but you could also use minced from a jar to save some time.
- Lemon – imo, fresh lemon juice is the best, but you can also use the store-bought lemon juice to save time or if you have paper cuts 🙂
- Jumbo shells – make sure you get the jumbo shells – they are easier to stuff and also the amount of filling we are making is based on using jumbo shells. I’ve seen chickpea ones too, if you’re gluten-free!
- Vegan Parmesan – I prefer Follow Your Heart because it browns really well in the oven, but use your favorite vegan parm! You can also omit this if you’re trying to eat more Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB)
- Sage – I would recommend using fresh sage leaves for this, but dried could work well too.
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- If you’re using extra firm tofu, press it.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a pot of boiling water, cook the pasta per the package instructions.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain the shells and leave them sitting in cold water so that they don’t stick together.
- In a food processor, blend all the ingredients listed under the ricotta filling together.
- In a medium-low heat pan, saute the onions until translucent. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Stir regularly to avoid burning and sticking to the pan.
- Add in the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning.
- In a blender, blend together the cooked onion and garlic and all of the other ingredients listed under Garlicky Sauce.
- In a large casserole dish, pour some of the sauce on the bottom.
- Split the ricotta filling evenly amongst the 30 jumbo shells and fill them – lay them in the casserole dish (open side facing up). You will likely need to stack a few.
- Once all of the shells are in the casserole dish, top with the rest of your sauce – spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the parmesan on top and throw in a little bit of the fresh sage (I prefer mine in very small, thin pieces so it doesn’t overpower).
- Cook in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes. I like to broil for a couple minutes at the end to brown and crisp the parmesan.
Silly Little Haiku
This takes awhile
Two different types of tofu
It’s super cozy
Author
Protein Deficient Vegan
