Pasta Shells Filled with Soy Ricotta Spinach and Pumpkin

Yum, this was one of our best meals. It is rather involved to make. Not difficult to make, just a lot of steps to do. But it is well worth the trouble it was delicious.

Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:

• 10-12 large pasta shells
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin, cut in small cubes
• 1 package fresh spinach- about 4 cups, cleaned

for the soy ricotta:

• 1 cup soy yogurt
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• dash dried onions
• dash dried garlic
• 1 tablespoon miso
• pinch salt and pepper
• optionally paprika and dry mustard as desired

for the tomato sauce:

• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
• splash lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• splash Tabasco (optional)

Directions:

Begin by making the soy ricotta.
In a medium bowl, mix the soy yogurt, nutritional east lemon juice, miso salt and pepper.
Season to taste with additional spices as desired

Steam the small pumpkin cubes al dente, remove from the heat and set aside.
Steam the spinach, when wilted and soft, place the spinach in a medium bowl.
Chop with a knife and fork as you would on a plate.
Drain any extra liquid that comes from the spinach.
Add the soy ricotta a tablespoon at a time. At about 2 or 3 tablespoons, it should be the right consistency for your filling. The rest can be used as dollops on top of the shells and around the baking dish.

Make the tomato sauce.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan.
Saute the onions.
Add the tomatoes, herbs and garlic.
Season to taste with a splash of lemon juice, Tabasco, alt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.
Put the pasta shells in ad cook about 5 minutes until al dente. Be careful to not over cook, as they will become too soft to fill and tear.
Place a bit of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an ovenproof baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.
Remove the shells from the boiling water. Drain and extra water that may be in the shell.
Fill the shell with about a tablespoon of spinach mixture and add the pumpkin cubes.
Place the shell on the tomato sauce in the baking dish. Continue filling all the shells.
Place any extra tomato sauce around the shells and dollop some of the soy ricotta.
Place a lid or aluminum foil over the top of the baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Notes:

We enjoyed this meal with a mixed salad, a whole grain baguette and a lovely organic wine.