Baked Pasta Shells with Cashews and Spinach

Instructions

1. Soak 200g cashew nuts in boiling water (you can also leave them overnight in cold water). I also defrosted a packet of spinach leaves (about 450g) in a sieve to drain the water.
2. Sautée 1 finely diced yellow onion and a garlic clove in sunflower oil, or a shallow layer of water to avoid fats. Add the drained spinach, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix well. Allow to cool.
3. Transfer the soaked cashews, 4 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar into a bowl and use an immersion blender to create a chunky sauce, adjusting with lemon juice and water to thin the consistency accordingly. Once ready, combine the spinach mixture and the cashew cream, and adjust the taste to your liking with salt and pepper.
4. Cook 250g pasta shells (I chose large conchiglioni) al dente, drain and rinse under cold water. Prepare an oven dish with a layer of your favourite tomato sauce as a base.
5. Fill each pasta shell with the spinach-cashew mixture (let your children help you with this, they will love it) and place them very tightly in the baking dish, covering the tomato sauce. If you have any leftover sauce or cream, feel free to drizzle it over the pasta shells and sprinkle with a vegan grated cheese alternative (I use Parveggio).
6. Transfer to a hot oven in the lower shelf and cook the pasta for no longer than 25mins, until the shells start to turn golden brown and have a crunchy edge.
7. Decorate with fresh basil leaves and serve piping hot