Pumpkin Poblano Stuffed Shells
Easy stuffed pasta shells filled with vegan ricotta cheese and creamy Pumpkin Poblano Sauce.
Equipment
- 1 9x13 Casserole Dish
Ingredients
Pumpkin Poblano Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup canned pumpkin I use Libby's
- 2.5 cups diced poblano peppers about 2 large peppers
- 1 cup diced yellow onion about 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1¼ tsp kosher salt I use Morton's
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ⅕ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1-1¼ cup plant milk unsweetened
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Tofu Ricotta
- 2 blocks firm tofu
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp onion granules
- 2 tsp white rice vinegar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
Remaining Ingredients
- 1 12oz box jumbo pasta shells like this
- 1 handful each of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and chopped fresh cilantro for topping
Instructions
Soak the Cashews
- Soft cashews equal creamy sauces so you'll want to soak them overnight or simply boil the raw cashews in hot water for 15 minutes and then allow the water to cool. Then drain the water and you're ready to go!
Prep
- While the cashews are softening, dice the onions and peppers and set aside. Then peel the garlic and set that aside too. No need to mince the garlic, the whole cloves will go into the pan.
- Next, cook the pasta shells to al dente by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add a pinch of salt and then add the noodles. Cook for one minute less than it says to on the package instructions. Then drain the water and rinse well with cold water to make the shells cool enough to handle for stuffing.
Make the Tofu Ricotta
- Making vegan ricotta is quick and easy. Simply combine all of the ingredients listed above in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Mix well and set aside.
Pumpkin Poblano Sauce
- Add olive oil to a large frying pan and set to medium heat. When warm, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. We want to sweat out the onions here, not brown them, so make sure the heat isn't too high :)
- Then add the poblano peppers and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add black pepper, allspice, cumin, nutmeg and 1/4 tsp of kosher salt and mix well. Then add the garlic cloves, no need to chop them up, and sauté for 5-6 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow the veggies to cool.
- In a blender, add the drained cashews, canned pumpkin, cooled veggies, 1 tsp of kosher salt, plant milk and maple syrup. Blend on high until very smooth.
Assemble
- Spoon 1/4 of sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan and spread into an even layer.
- Then generously stuff each shell with ricotta and place upright in the pan. Nestling each shell tightly together. It's ok to stack some on top of each other as needed.
- Then drizzle the sauce on top and use a spatula to spread it out to the edges of the pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with pumpkin and sunflower seeds and bake for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving then enjoy!
Notes
For a nut-free version of this sauce, skip the cashews and add 1/4 cup of light, runny tahini like this one. Since it's salted, you'll want to lower the salt in this recipe from 1 tsp to 3/4 and then add more to taste as desired.