Vegan pasta casserole with broccoli and peas

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 250 g pasta
• 2 tsp vegetable broth
• ½ pack of soy cream (Soy Cream Cuisine)
• 2 tbsp tapioca flour, optional
• 4 tbsp sauce thickener
• 2 heads of broccoli
• 1 small can of peas (approx. 425 g content), alternatively frozen
• 250 ml water
• 2 handfuls of cheese, grated, vegan (Simply V), optional
• salt and pepper
• curry powder
• basil
• Fat for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

vegan, vegetarian, healthy

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Add the vegetable broth to 250 ml of boiling water. Add the soy cream and mix. Tip: If you like, you can also add tapioca flour (sometimes called tapioca starch) (available at Asian stores or easily online, e.g., on Amazon). This ensures that the sauce drizzles beautifully over the casserole at the end, almost like “real” cheese! It’s a kind of secret ingredient for vegans. Add the sauce thickener and wait a while until the sauce has thickened slightly. Then stir regularly to maintain a creamy consistency. Season to taste with salt, pepper, curry powder, and basil. Meanwhile, trim the broccoli, generously peeling the stumps and finely chopping the heads. Then add the stumps to boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli florets after 3 minutes, which means they should boil for 2 (!) minutes. This cooking time is absolutely sufficient to cook all the broccoli pieces until soft and chewy. Cooking for longer would unnecessarily destroy many of the healthy nutrients contained in the broccoli. Remove the peas from the can. Or, if using frozen peas, thaw them first according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta water and transfer the cooked pasta to a greased casserole dish. Add the peas and broccoli (draining the water first). Pour the creamy cheese sauce over the pasta. Optionally, you can top with some vegan grated cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F) for approximately 20 minutes. Note: Vegan cheese doesn’t melt quite as well as “regular” cheese, but it tastes just as delicious. After 20 minutes, it should still be nicely melted (at least if tapioca flour was added to the sauce).