Spinach and Pasta Casserole

This holiday season we are changing it up a bit. We are making a Spinach and Pasta Casserole that is all kinds of heartwarming and delicious. This creamy vegan pasta casserole is a favourite among crowds. 

I've been wanting to make a casserole for a long while. I've always loved how simple and easy it is to make a heartwarming meal this way, especially in such a short time. For this recipe, we need only 20 minutes from start to finish. How good is that?

I gave casseroles a break for a little while because I couldn't figure out the "cheesy" part. And, I always felt was something was missing. Until now, that I found the perfect ingredient, or combination of ingredients I'd say, to make it just right. 

We are using fermented tofu to get that salty, kinda earthy, pungent taste. And it will give a very distinctive touch to our dish. I've think it's a great replacement for feta cheese due to its flavour and texture. I haven't found anything that resembles feta cheese this much at such a reasonable price. 

I don't use this particular ingredient much at home. However, I'm starting to introduce it a bit more in my diet and discovering new ways to take advantage of all it has to offer. For this dish, it's giving us plant-based protein and the beautiful cheesy flavour I felt I was missing in my other vegan casserole recipes. 

We have the taste right in this vegan casserole, now we need the texture. For that part, I added grated vegan cheese. I usually buy whatever kind that melt so I get that stringy melted cheese to make our casserole extra mouthwatering. 

I wanted to get this cheesy part right because we have pasta involved. We love using elbow or shell pasta for these casseroles. These types have, let's say space to hold the other ingredients. So, in every bite, you get a bit of everything and it's the perfect vehicle for that melted cheese I've been ranting about. 

Cheese and pasta sound delicious, but veggies would make this vegan casserole perfect. Since during the holiday season we have a thousand things to think about, I try to make things simple in the kitchen. So for this recipe, I decided to simply add spinach. 

This is one of my favourite combs, pasta and spinach! I always have a bag in the freezer and it's a lifesaver. You can always add fresh, however, we are adding spinach to the sauce. So the frozen stuff will do the trick just fine. 

As I mentioned, the whole process will take you 20 minutes, of which, 15 is the time you have to leave the casserole in the oven. So in reality, it will take you a whole 5 minutes of hands-on work to make this beauty! 

Serve it straight out of the oven so the casserole is still steamy and the cheese stringy. It’s the perfect side dish for the mushroom balls and cranberry sauce we have planned for our Christmas dinner!