Description
Vegan cheesy baked noodles with cashew ricotta and Impossible burger. Accompanied by a homemade sauce with Italian seasoning.
Overview
Baked ziti is like lasagna but without the work. It has the same delicious ingredients with different noodles. Creamy and cheesy deliciousness baked to perfection!
Homemade cashew ricotta elevates this recipe. Simple and easy to make we include a recipe and the process below. It teams up with Daiya mozzarella shreds and Follow Your Heart parmesan.
For the sauce we used Impossible Burger to give it some heartiness. You can certainly swap them for your favorite vegan crumbles of choice or omit them altogether. Italian seasoned crushed tomatoes with onion, garlic, and bell pepper round out the flavor profile.
In terms of special equipment for this recipe you will need a food processor and a 9 x 13 in baking dish. We will walk through the process next.
Cooking Notes
Prep work
Chop, mince, and slice the onions, garlic, and bell pepper and place in a bowl. Measure and add the spices to a small bowl. For the cashew ricotta, soak the raw cashews for 2 – 3 hours before starting this recipe.
Cashew Ricotta
Drain the water from the cashews and add them, and the remaining cashew ricotta ingredients, to the food processor. Pulse until smooth. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Making the sauce
Bring a skillet up medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the garlic, onion, and bell pepper until the onion starts to turn translucent.
Place the Impossible burger in the skillet and cook until browned. Then, add the crushed tomatoes and spices. Bring the sauce up to a simmer and then reduce the heat. In conjunction with the sauce, cook the noodles based on the package directions.
Putting it all together
Start by adding some sauce to the bottom of the 9 x 13 baking dish. This will help prevent the noodles from sticking to the dish. Then in a large bowl add the cooked noodles and remaining sauce. Stir until everything is combined.
Place half of the noodle and sauce mixture in the dish. Followed by adding evenly spaced dollops of the cashew ricotta. Evenly sprinkle the vegan parmesan shreds and vegan mozzarella shreds over the filling. Repeat the process one more time to use the remaining ingredients. Bake at 350ºF for 25 – 30 minutes.
Substitutions and Variations
Impossible Burger – feel free to use your favorite vegan crumbles of choice in place of Impossible Burger.
Cashew Ricotta – there are off the shelf brands now that make vegan cashew ricotta. Depending on your location you may be fortunate enough to be able to buy some.
Veggies – we used red bell for this recipe but mushrooms or broccoli florets might be a nice addition. Feel free to experiment. 🙂
Storage
If there are a lot of leftovers then it may be easiest to place a sheet of aluminum foil over the 9 x 13 baking dish. Once the majority of the dish has been consumed it may make more sense to place the leftovers in your storage container of choice. Either way leftovers should keep nicely in the refrigerator for several days before the freshness starts to taper off.
If you like this recipe be sure to check out our other recipes below:
Ingredients
1 pound ziti noodles
1 (12 oz.) package Impossible ground “beef”
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion or 1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fennel
2 teaspoons sugar
1 (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
1 package (7.1 oz) Daiya Mozzarella shreds
1 container (4 oz) Follow Your Heart Parmesan
Cashew Ricotta
1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Start by soaking the cashews in cool water for 2 – 3 hours. Then drain the cashews and place all the cashew ricotta ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Put in the refrigerator until needed.
- Prepare the garlic, onion, and bell pepper.
- Bring a skillet up to medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté until the onion is translucent.
- Remove the Impossible Burger (or vegan crumbles of choice) from the packaging and add to the skillet. Continue to cook until the crumbles brown.
- Stir the crushed tomatoes and spices into the skillet. Bring the skillet up to a simmer.
- Cook the noodles based on the instructions on the packaging. When they are finished cooking, drain them with a strainer.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Add a thin layer of sauce to the 9 x 13 baking dish to help prevent the noodles from sticking to the pan. Then add the remaining sauce and noodles to a big bowl and combine.
- Add half of the noodle and sauce mixture in the 9 x 13 baking dish. Use a spoon to add dollops of cashew ricotta, followed by half of the vegan Parmesan and vegan mozzarella. Repeat by adding the remaining noodles, cashew ricotta, and cheeses. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
- When the time elapses remove the dish from the oven and place on a wire rack. Serve immediately and garnish with your favorite toppings.