Baked Penne Florentine

This is another oldie but goodie recipe from Mary McDougall.

My changes:
Pasta - my family hates whole wheat pasta so I use regular semolina.

Spinach - I use a full bag of it and rarely defrost and squeeze it, preferring to just dump the whole bag into the bowl with the hot pasta.

Miso - I just omit it because nobody in this area sells it and for the one or 2 recipes I use that include it, it's not worth the mail order purchase. In fact, I don't use this version of ricotta cheese (cashews, white beans and flavorings) at all but prefer to use the tofu ricotta from Vegan With A Vengeance very similar to the one this person uses.

So, to be honest, I don't really use Mary's recipe, just use it for its idea of Baked Penne Florentine. But here is hers, anyway:


                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                          Baked Penne Florentine

Recipe By     :Mary McDougall
Serving Size  : 6     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Beans                           Main Dish
                Pasta                           Vegan

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  8             ounces  pasta -- uncooked whole wheat penne
  10            ounces  frozen chopped spinach -- thawed
                        and squeezed dry
     1/4           cup  vegetable broth
  1                     onion -- chopped
     1/2           cup  cashews -- raw
  1 3/4           cups  water
  1                can  white beans -- (15 ounce) drained
                        and rinsed
  1         tablespoon  soy sauce
  1         tablespoon  white miso
  2          teaspoons  lemon juice
     1/4      teaspoon  dry mustard
     1/4      teaspoon  cayenne
     1/2           cup  whole wheat bread crumbs

Drop the pasta into a pot of boiling water and cook until just barely tender, about 6 minutes.  Drain, place in a bowl and add the spinach.  Mix very well.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the onion and the vegetable broth in a medium non-stick frying pan.  Cook, stirring occasionally until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.

Place the cashews in a food processor and process until finely ground.  Add half of the water and blend until smooth.  Add the remaining water, the cooked onion, beans, soy sauce, miso, lemon juice, mustard and cayenne.  Process until very smooth.  Pour this over the pasta and spinach and mix well.  Transfer to a covered casserole dish.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs.  Cover and bake for 45 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Description:
  "This is a delicious baked pasta dish that our grandson, Jaysen, really likes.  I serve it to him the way it comes out of the oven, but I like to top mine with a bit of Sriracha Hot Sauce for a little kick.- Mary McDougall"
Source:
  "McDougall newsletter"
Copyright:
  "December 2003"
                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving: 383 Calories; 7g Fat (16.5% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 64g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 465mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 4 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.

NOTES : Hint:  This may be prepared ahead and refrigerated until baking time.  Add about 15 minutes to the baking time.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0