This heavenly vegan dish is a cross between lasagna and baked ziti… Minus the pasta, cheese and marinara. Instead, you’ll be learning how to roast spaghetti squash and the art of making vegan cheese; in this case, it’s tofu “ricotta.” Using dairy free pesto puts a fresh twist on tradition making this vegan pesto spaghetti squash bake innovative without sacrificing flavor.
Baked Vegan Pesto Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, then scoop out the seeds. Brush the insides with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt.
Line a baking tray and place squash with the flesh facing down. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and roast for 45 minutes.
While the squash are roasting, make the “ricotta.†Place tofu, nutritional yeast, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon pesto, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper into a blender or food processor.
Pulse until consistency resembles conventional ricotta cheese.
When the squash comes out of the oven, begin loosening flesh with a fork in a scraping motion.
Using a baking dish, begin layering. Start with the flesh of one of the squash halves. Dollop tofu “ricotta†and pesto, then move onto another layer of squash.
Continue this process until all the squash is used. I always have some tofu ricotta leftover, it gets repurposed into dishes later in the week.
Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes loosely covered with aluminum foil.