Vegan Pasta Bake (Gluten Free)

This Vegan Pasta Bake is definitely the ultimate straight-out-of-the-oven crowd pleaser. Gluten free chickpea fusilli pasta with flavoursome, homemade marinara sauce.  Topped with melt in your mouth vegan cheese, no nutritional yeast and nut free!!

Who doesn't love a good ole pasta bake? I mean c'mon be honest all that cheese topped on a nice bit of pasta is bound to get your mouth watering.

I'm a lover of pasta bake, when done properly meaning the pasta is al dante or a little shy of that and the tomato sauce is rich and full of flavour.

I can promise you this is the ultimate award winning pasta dish. It's child friendly, even your friends and family who aren't gluten or dairy free will love it too.

While I won't proclaim to be the expert of making pasta bake HOWEVER I have had my fair share of poorly prepared pasta bakes. I can tell the difference between a delicious and awful tasting bake for sure.

Based on the feedback that I had from friends and family this Vegan Pasta Bake recipe is very much foolproof.

I did a blind baking test on people who weren't gluten and dairy free and most of them weren't aware until I told them. I decided to share this recipe with my lovely readers so they so can share this wonderful recipe with their loved ones.

The majority of the ingredients are things you already stock in your pantry/vegetable basket. Especially those of you who are gluten free. There's a very good range of wheat free alternatives out there.

Ingredients you need

• Chickpea fusilli: I like to use this because of its high protein content however, any gluten free pasta will work. Profusion is my preferred brand to cook with.
• Dairy free cheese: Choose your favourite vegan cheese, I find Daiya, Sheese and Miyoko are great melt-able cheese brands.
• Passata/Chopped tomatoes: both make the marinara sauce but feel free to use one over the other.
• Mixed peppers/celery/onion/garlic: These vegetables form the foundation of the sauce
• Seasonings: Black pepper, basil, thyme, oregano, bay leaves and pink salt.
• Oil: for sauteing, any high point oil such as coconut oil will do.

Vegan cheese that melts

That burning topic that so many people are in search of the answer to. Well I will give you the good news and the bads news.

The good news is that you can replicate the results as pictured BUT....the bad news is, it all depends on what dairy free cheese is available in your country.

Since I started blogging I made a point of limiting my use in cheese because I couldn't find vegan cheese that looked and behaved like cheese is supposed to.

I have a few cheesey recipes like my Vegan Rasta Pasta and my Vegan Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese 

All of these recipes required cheese to be mixed into the dish and to not serve as a topping.

To me a decent vegan cheese topping is a game changer because it enhances the taste and overall appearance.

There are more dairy free cheese options on the horizon especially with more people being vegan/lactose intolerant/IBS inflicted and so fourth.

In my experience the following brands of cheese are very close replica's;

• Daiya
• Vegan Mozerella
• Sheese 
• Miyoko
• Vegan Applewood Cheese

Violife tends to be good for mixing into recipes i.e as opposed to toppings. Use whichever dairy free cheese you can get hold of.

As I said before the results will vary depending on the type of cheese and availability so please keep this in mind.

How to make vegan pasta bake

• Add the oil then proceed to sautee the onion, garlic, bell peppers and celery.
• Then add the passata and chopped tomatoes.

• Season with herbs - thyme, basil, oregano, black pepper and pink salt and cook for 10 mintues.
• Meantime, cook the pasta until slightly firm (al dente) and drain off the water

• Add the mixture to a blender and completely puree into a smooth sauce
• Pour the pureed tomato sauce onto the pasta, mix and combine together then top with vegan cheese
• Bake for 10-15 minutes

Can you use nutritional yeast and make a cheese sauce instead?

Yes, right now I do not have a sauce recipe on my website HOWEVER...if you have a favourite/preferred recipe in mind then please use that instead.

Where can you buy chickpeas fusilli?

Depending on which country you are in most health stores stock it or you can purchase it online.

Can you freeze any leftovers?

Yes, make sure to use a freezer friendly container.

Notes and tips

• Baking dish size. A dish approximately 26cm (12 inches) should suffice the recipe. Alternatively, you can use 2 smaller sized dishes
• Simmering the sauce. The sauce becomes more flavourful and rich as it simmers for awhile so the longer you cook it the better the taste, you may need to add more passata if the sauce recede when simmering for awhile.
• Make sure the pasta is al dente, it should be firm but not crunchy. Around 3-4 minutes, start testing the pasta at 30 -1 minute intervals until it is firm but not crunchy.
• Drain off the pasta thoroughly. This is important to avoid a pool of water in your casserole dish. Use a colander or strainer if needed to rid the excess water.
• The amount of cheese needed is subjective . This all depends  on your baking dish, a deep circular pyrex dish may require less cheese that a rectangular dish.
• Use a immersion sticker blender or blender to puree the sauce. You will need a tools that is powerful due to the chunkiness of the sauce. Don't be afraid to add a little more passata or a splash of water to help the sauce break down.
• Discard the bay leaves before pureeing the sauce in the blender.
• Blend the sauce in batches. You may have to puree the tomato sauce in batches depending on the size of your blender.
• Any sauce that is leftover can be placed in a freezer friendly container and frozen. Just thaw out before re-using it.
• Evenly distribute the sauce by pushing down and folding it into the pasta. This will ensure that each piece of pasta is fully coated and flavoursome.
• Serving size. This recipe serves 4-6 people.

Other gluten free vegan recipes you may like

• Curried Jackfruit
• Vegan Fish and Chips
• Creamy Millet Porridge Recipe
• Vegan Instant Pot Rice Pudding
• Vegan Kidney Bean Burger
• Gluten Free Gingerbread Muffins

**Don't forget to comment below and star rate if you have tried my recipes. Let's be friends and engage on Facebook and Instagram I also like to pin on Pinterest, where you can find more amazing recipes.**

Gluten Free Pasta Bake

Learn how to make the best vegan pasta bake with melt in your mouth cheese

4.84 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Italian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 642kcal

Author: Charla

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 lb gluten free chickpea fusilli pasta (500g)
• ▢ 1 cup of dairy free cheese more if needed
• ▢ 1 14.5oz large can of chopped plum tomato (400ml)
• ▢ ½ cup of passata add ½ cup more if needed
• ▢ 2 celery stalks chopped
• ▢ 1 onion chopped
• ▢ 1 cup of mix bell peppers chopped
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves chopped
• ▢ 3 bay leaves
• ▢ 2 teaspoon oregano
• ▢ 2 teaspoon thyme
• ▢ 2 teaspoon basil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon himalayan pink salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive or coconut oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180c/356F/Gas mark 4
• Add the oil to a large frying pan or skillet, over medium heat.
• Proceed to saute the onion and garlic until soft and translucent
• Add the celery and mixed bell peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes
• Once the veggies are soft, pour the passata and chopped tomatoes into the pan and fold the vegetables into the tomato sauce.
• Let the tomatoes sauce heat through for 2 minutes before adding the bay leaves and herbs then stir all of the ingredients together.
• Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes (15-20 if you want more depth in flavour). Add more passata if the sauce starts to recede if cooking for longer.
• Once cooked, remove from the stove and set aside to cool down then discard the bay leaves.
• Pour the mixture into a high speed blender and puree into a smooth sauce.
• Bring a saucepan with water and fusilli to the boil, make sure to stir and/or move a slotted spoon in a back and forth motion. Once the pot has boiled reduce the heat and cook the pasta to slightly firm (al dente) Around 3-4 minutes, start testing the pasta at 30 -1 minute intervals until it is firm but not crunchy.
• Drain off the water (use a colander if needed)
• Pour the sauce onto the fusilli and fold really combine both the sauce and fusilli together.
• Top the pasta with cheese, spreading evenly, use more cheese if needed
• Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is slightly golden.

Notes

• Baking dish size. A dish approximately 26cm (12 inches) should suffice the recipe. Alternatively, you can use 2 smaller sized dishes
• Simmering the sauce. The sauce becomes more flavourful and rich as it simmers for awhile so the longer you cook it the better the taste, you may need to add more passata if the sauce recede when simmering for awhile.
• Make sure the pasta is al dente, it should be firm but not crunchy. Around 3-4 minutes, start testing the pasta at 30 -1 minute intervals until it is firm but not crunchy.
• Drain off the pasta thoroughly. This is important to avoid a pool of water in your casserole dish. Use a colander or strainer if needed to rid the excess water.
• The amount of cheese needed is subjective . This all depends  on your baking dish, a deep circular pyrex dish may require less cheese that a rectangular dish. 
• Use a immersion sticker blender or blender to puree the sauce. You will need a tools that is powerful due to the chunkiness of the sauce. Don't be afraid to add a little more passata or a splash of water to help the sauce break down.
• Discard the bay leaves before pureeing the sauce in the blender.
• Blend the sauce in batches. You may have to puree the tomato sauce in batches depending on the size of your blender.
• Any sauce that is leftover can be placed in a freezer friendly container and frozen. Just thaw out before re-using it.
• Evenly distribute the sauce by pushing down and folding it into the pasta. This will ensure that each piece of pasta is fully coated and flavorsome.
• Serving size. This recipe serves 4-6 people.

Nutrition

Calories: 642kcal | Carbohydrates: 112g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 1091mg | Potassium: 471mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1510IU | Vitamin C: 65mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 4mg

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