Broccoli ‘Cheese’ Pasta Bake [Vegan]

Here's my own pasta bake, homemade sauce and all, with some of my favorite ingredients:
broccoli, tofu, and nooch/nutritional yeast.

SERVES

4

COOK TIME

60

INGREDIENTS

For the sauce

• 3 1/2 cups cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
• 6 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3 oz tofu
• 1 tsp vegan margarine (optional for extra creaminess)
• a pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of thyme
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• juice of 1/2 lemon

For the crumbly topic

• 1 slice gluten-free bread, toasted (or regular)
• 1 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast

And the rest

• 4 cups broccoli and green beans, you decide how much of each you want
• 1 cup gluten-free spirelli (or regular pasta; farfalle looks really beautiful in this dish, too)

PREPARATION

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.
2. Grease a large ovenproof dish.
3. Steam the cauliflower for 10 minutes.
4. Transfer to a blender, add the soya milk and begin blending.
5. Add the other sauce ingredients, one by one, until all are used up and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
6. Steam the broccoli and green beans for 5-10 minutes. Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
7. Combine the pasta, broccoli, green beans and pasta sauce in a large bowl. Pour into the ovenproof dish.
8. In a small bowl, crumble the slice of toast with your hands (or blitz in a food processor), mix in the nutritional yeast, and sprinkle over the pasta.
9. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

NOTES

Remember that you can easily multi-task when making this dish. While the vegetables are steaming you can also cook the pasta (I steam my vegetables over the pot of pasta), blend the sauce while the pasta is cooking, etc. And of course, clean up the kitchen and lay the table while the pasta is baking. Just remember to keep on eye on things. • The tofu is where it's at in this sauce. If you've ever added tofu to smoothies, you'll know it's the magic ingredients to make them silky smooth. Same with this sauce. Try it, I promise you won't regret it.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/broccoli-cheese-pasta-bake/