Thursday, October 2, 2008

creamy baked pasta

in my last post, i mentioned that i don't buy a lot of faux cheese products, but i do sometimes splurge. i say if you are gonna do it, do it up big! so here is a triple threat - complete with vegan sour cream, cream cheese, and mozzarella. i don't make these types of recipes too often - a girl has to watch her waistline - but i certainly enjoy treating myself with warm comforting dishes every once in a while.


  • 16 oz. whole wheat mostaccioli
  • 3/4-1 whole green bell pepper
  • 3 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
  • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons italian seasoning
  • dash of salt and pepper
  • 6 oz. tofutti 'sour cream'
  • 4 oz. tofutti 'cream cheese'
  • 5 oz. vegan gourmet mozzarella (shredded)
cook and drain pasta according to instructions on box. make pasta sauce by combining tomato sauce, paste, water, garlic, onion, italian seasoning (i use penzey's spices) and salt/pepper in a medium sauce pan. heat on medium-high until sauce starts to simmer aggressively, then lower heat to medium-low, cover, and let it simmer lightly for about 15 minutes, stirring often. this will be a thicker sauce since it is going into a casserole type dish. add in the softened cream cheese and sour cream, and heat on low for about 5-10 minutes until you have a nice creamy red sauce.

now the fun begins.

in a 9x11 glass casserole dish, use about three tablespoons of the sauce to coat the bottom (prevents sticking). layer 1/2 of the mostaccioli in the dish, then layer 1/2 sauce, 1/2 green pepper and 1/2 of the mozzarella. then repeat with the other half of the ingredients.

pop in the oven at 350 f° for about 25 minutes, until the sauce starts to bubble and the cheese begins to melt. pull out and cool around 10-12 minutes before trying to serve, although in my house we only make it about 5 minutes.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks good!

Meg said...

This looks so warm and cheesey!Love it! Great job!

allularpunk said...

i don't buy fake cheese often either, but you're right.. when you do it, you gotta DO it! this looks really yummy.. i make a casserole similar to this and it's true that it's so not great for me, but once in awhile, you just have to have stuff like that.

Jenn Shagrin said...

The "Prosciutto" recipe is actually in the post just below that one, but just in case, here's the direct URL:
http://jennshaggy.blogspot.com/2008/09/heirloom-cannellini-beans-with-sage.html

And damn that pasta looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

i am so hungry right now and this would be amazing.. would you come over and make it for me?

Anonymous said...

YUMMY!!!!!

Destiny's Kitchen said...

Sounds heavenly!

A.C. said...

Sounds mighty good!