Vegan Baked Ziti
Ingredients
For the Pasta:
- 1-pound dried ziti
For the Seitan Sausage Sauce:
- 4 tsp. olive oil, divided
- 13 ounces seitan sausage, crumbled
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- ½ tsp. dried thyme
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, briefly pulsed in blender
For the Vegan Mozzarella Sauce:
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup refined coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 tbsp. tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
To prepare the pasta:
- Cook the pasta according to package directions; under cooking by 1 to 2 minutes as it will continue to cook in the oven; strain and set aside.
To prepare the sauce:
- In a pot, over medium heat, heat 2 tsp. of oil.
- Add the seitan sausage and cook until it's browning; about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the remaining 2 tsp. of oil, onion and a pinch of salt.
- Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes until the onions are soft and lightly caramelized.
- As the onions cook, anything stuck to the bottom of the pan from cooking the sausage will lift up.
- Add the garlic, salt, herbs and a pinch of red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes and sausage; cover the pot and bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Turn the heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes.
To prepare the mozzarella sauce:
- Add everything to a blender and blend until very smooth.
To assemble and bake the ziti:
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 ºF.
- Toss the pasta with about half of the sausage tomato sauce.
- In a casserole dish, add a couple spoonfuls of sauce to the bottom of the dish; add about 1/3 of the pasta.
- Top with about half of the remaining tomato sauce; pour about 1/4 cup of the mozzarella sauce over tomato sauce.
- Repeat and layer the next third of the pasta, the remaining tomato sauce and the next approximate 1/4 of the mozzarella sauce.
- Top with the last of the pasta; smother with the remaining mozzarella sauce.
- Place the casserole dish in the pre-heated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese sauce has browned.
- Optional: turn on the broiler at the end for 2 to 5 minutes for further browning.
Notes
Use whole canned tomatoes for the best quality tomatoes, and pulse in blender or crush by hand before adding to pot; if using crushed or pureed tomatoes, instead of whole, then there is no need to pulse the tomatoes to chop up.