Stuffed shells

I'm slowly making the transition from die-hard recipe follower to free-form cook. Last night's dinner marks the third time I've made this dish, the first two were from the recipe and this one was all on my own. I found this recipe in an issue of Vegetarian Times and was intrigued - a vegan version of a classic Italian dish. Would it be filling? Tasty?

I started by sauteeing half an onion & a couple cloves of garlic, then added a box of frozen spinach (thawed, with all the water squeezed out.) I threw all of this in the food processor with half a block of tofu, a handful of fresh basil leaves, some oregano, salt & pepper. I ran the food processor until the mixture was smooth, then filled a zip lock sandwich bag and snipped off the corner for an instant piping bag. I filled each pre-cooked pasta shell, then lined them up in a well-lubricated baking dish and started my sauce.

The sauce is basically a cheesy bechemel with fresh basil using vegan spread, soy milk, organic flour and Tofu-rella. I poured this over the top of the dish, and baked for 20 minutes.

Survey says: James had seconds, so a success!! I felt it still lacked that extra something in flavor, but this was by far the best attempt yet, plus the creamy rich sauce really turned the whole thing into comfort food. Even better the second day for lunch! This was served with a thick slice of pan a lavan from the Snohomish Bakery, toasted with crushed garlic & butter. Yummy!