I had some leftover broccoli florets and mushrooms in the fridge I needed to use up and thought of baking them into pasta casserole. Then I thought, what if I were to chop these up super super small and HID them in a cheezy sauce? Then I would have a fantastic recipe for those who have a hard time getting their children or spouses to eat their vegetables!
So that’s why this recipe was designed and it’s not quite as indulgent as just pasta in cheezy sauce. It has some delicious veggies hiding in it too!
I like to use rotini pasta because the spirals hold onto the sauce and really grab it, plus it has a nice texture to it too. I recommend following these directions, but if you don’t have a food processor you can chop the veggies into very very small pieces instead so they don’t overwhelm the pasta. Also make sure not to use too much broccoli or you will end up with a more pungent pasta creation (as broccoli contains sulfur it can be strong smelling).
So give this healthy pasta bake a try and let me know what you think!
Vegan Broccoli Mushroom Pasta Bake
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 cuo/150 grams of broccoli
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
3 large cloves of garlic
16 oz. whole wheat rotini, elbows or spirals
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Paprika to garnish
White pepper to garnish
Herbamare or salt to garnish
Cheezy Sauce:
2 cups almond milk
1/4 cup cashews
1 large clove of garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
5 tsp Genmai brown rice miso paste
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp smoked paprika
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt if desired. Cook rotini or spirals for about 6 minutes just until al dente. (Do not overcook)
2. Pulse, broccoli, mushrooms, onions and garlic separately in a food processor (unless you have a very large one) until broken into tiny pieces. Add to a large wok or sauté pan and cook for 7 minutes until soft. Add a little water or vegetable broth as necessary to cook.
3. Blend cheezy sauce ingredients in a blender and taste test. Adjust seasonings if desired with more salt and pepper or smoked paprika.
4. Drain rotini and add to sauté pan and pour sauce over (or combine in a large pot if you don’t have a lot of room). Toss to coat.
5. Pour into a large casserole pan. Top with panko breadcrumbs and smoked paprika.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
7. Serve and enjoy!
Additional Tips:
This recipe is best served fresh, but if you need to reheat it rebake it or else the panko bread crumbs will be mushy.
Have you ever made a plant-based baked pasta casserole before? What do you put in it?
Love love this recipe. The flavor is so yummy, and yet it’s vegan. Definitely keeping this. I didn’t have the miso paste, so I left it out and also used almonds instead of cashews. Yummy! Thanks for this, you’re my inspiration for ‘veganism’. I love my yogurt, that’s my only downfall
Had to fuse a bunch of your recipes to deal with some leftovers that kinda ended up being a broccoli cheese casserole. I wanted to make the above recipe, but I had leftover cheese sauce, squash cheese sauce, stuffing mix instead of pasta, frozen broccoli, and no mushrooms. So, I grabbed my accumulation of your cheese sauce recipes in the fridge, some stuffing mix, the broccoli, some salt and pepper and flopped it in a dish for 30 min at 350 and it’s really good. I do hope to make the real deal up top soon, but just wanted to let you know that your recipe leftovers make great fusion casserole in a pinch!
I tried this recipe last night for the first time and it is definitely a KEEPER!!! I usually try to stay pretty close to the suggested allotted serving sizes, but I had to break the rules with this recipe … I went back for seconds. Then guess what? I went back for thirds. And if I’m going to be completely honest with you … fourths was enjoyed. I had to force myself to stop and save some for the following day. Okay, okay, I probably know what you are thinking … BUT IT WAS SOOOOOOOO GOOD!
Signed
Oink, oink 🙂
lol Gail. You can try also serving it with a salad, soup or more steamed greens on the side next time to make it easier to resist temptation. 🙂
What temperature do you bake this at?
350 F.
We have a nut allergy in my family. Do you think this will work with rice milk and sunflower seeds?
You can use soy or rice milk instead if you want.
Hi, that sound delicious but I would substitute whole wheat pasta with brown rice pasta.
If you need to be gluten free for allergies then that’s fine. But Dr. Mcdougall and many other plant based doctors do not recommend a gluten free diet for the population as brown rice products are usually more refined, higher in calories and not fortified unlike whole wheat pasta. Not to mention gluten free products are much more expensive and the bread and dessert products are high in fat and have a lot of oil. I use gluten free pasta when serving those who are allergic to gluten only as I have not noticed any benefits of eating gluten free vs wheat products. I felt worse eating gluten free personally (due to the high amounts of refined rice flour and oil).
But I know some people and their families have allergies so my recipes are very easily converted to gluten free by switching the type of pasta or using gf tamari instead of soy sauce.
If you are not allergic to gluten you may want to check out this article: Gluten Free Diets are Harmful for The General Population http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2013nl/mar/gluten.htm
Also this new article from Macleans on the dangers of the regular population going Gluten Free: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/09/10/gone-gluten-free/
Please of course understand that I am not against anyone with a wheat allergy or gluten allergy eating gluten free, that is a must but that’s 1% of the population. The rest of everyone who is not allergic shouldn’t eat gluten free products expecting them to be healthier than whole wheat/whole grain products.
Any direction on selecting miso paste? I once went shopping for some and was somewhat overwhelmed by the selection and have not tried since.
I buy Genmai brown miso paste (the type) from the health food store. There are different colors and flavors. White miso is more for miso soup and milder. I don’t use red miso because of the color.
Just wondering, can you loose weight eating like this, evn though your cutting out some meat, your adding in starch?
Thanks, Kelly
Yes Kelly, Dr. Mcdougall teaches this in his new book The Starch Solution http://amzn.to/17PCPuX . Get all your calories from whole foods with fibre and water. Whole wheat pasta can be part of that, just make sure to have a slightly smaller portion of the pasta with a lot of veggies or a salad.