Yummy Sausage Pasta Bake (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free option)

There are lots of pasta bake sauces available for sale ready made in a jar, the problem is finding one that's vegan friendly. Add in wheat or gluten intolerance too and you're in for a difficult time!

I personally think that it's much nicer to make your own pasta bake sauce, and the good news is that it's easy and cost effective too.

Pasta bakes traditionally call for cheese which has been challenging for vegans in the past. Vegan cheese has come a long way in the past few years, but it still has a tendency to dry out and burn if you sprinkle it on top of a dish to go in the oven. You can get away with putting a little bit on top, but I don't recommend covering this one completely like you would do with dairy cheeses.

This is a very easy but delicious pasta bake that is also very yummy and popular with kids, so the whole family will love it.

For a gluten or wheat free option, just make sure you use a wheat or gluten free pasta, like corn or rice pasta, and choose vegan sausages that are wheat or gluten free too. Another option is omit them and just add extra beans - because who doesn't love beans amirite?!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped

100g baby spinach leaves

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1/2 tspn chili powder

Handful of fresh chopped basil or 2 tspn dried basil

1 tin chopped plum tomatoes (use the best quality you can afford, it's worth it!)

1 tin baked beans or 1 tin kidney beans (drained)

300 ml vegetable stock

200g dry pasta shapes

8 vegan sausages

100g vegan cheese, grated (optional)

Nooch, salt & black pepper to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C / 390F

Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan or wok on a medium heat and add the chopped onion.

Once the onion starts to soften and turn translucent, add the garlic and spinach.

Sizzle gently until the spinach has reduced and turned soft then add the sliced tomato and fry for a minute or two until the tomato starts to change colour. Don't overdo it or it’ll turn to mush!

Add the chili and herbs and allow to sizzle for another minute.

Add the tinned tomato, beans and stock and stir well for about 30 seconds until evenly combined.

Remove from the hob.

In a shallow oven proof baking dish, evenly spread the dry pasta shapes. I like to use a glass or ceramic dish for this.

Pour the tomato sauce mixture on top and stir well so the pasta is evenly distributed.

Place the vegan sausages evenly in the dish and push down so they are half covered with sauce.

Place in the oven for 25 minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven, and stir in the vegan cheese. (You could use 2 tablespoons of Nooch instead at this point, which is a lower fat option or useful if you're run out of Gary!)

Gently stir the sauce around to ensure all the pasta is moist, being careful not to break the sausages. Place back in the oven for a further 20 minutes.

Remove and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Top with salt, freshly ground black pepper and Nooch to suit your taste.

Enjoy!