Meatless Pizza Casserole Recipe
05-28-2015
Author: Blog Editor in Diet for a Tiny House
Scrumptious Pizza Vegetarian Pasta
Here is a sausage-mushroom pasta dish that tastes like sausage pizza. It’s “Let’s-go-back-for-my-third-serving” delicious. If you want to get conservative with water, you can avoid washing multiple pots and use a Dutch oven to do everything: boil the pasta, make the sauce, and cook the casserole in different stages. But here I am using two pots, because now we have left California and are in Missouri where I don’t need to conserve water in my Airstream and I am lazy.
When my kids were little and I was moving our family toward a plant-based diet (and they were being dragged along kicking and screaming), I used to experiment with meaty plant-based dishes. I know, that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but here’s the deal. I didn’t always succeed.
But that was 20 years ago and now we live in a different world. Supermarkets offer a variety of delicious soy, mushroom, and wheat-based meat substitutes. Just go to the healthier-food section of the supermarket freezer section where they keep the Amy’s frozen dinner products and you will find them. That’s also where you can find the Morningstar plant-based bacon used in the last few recipes.
If you must, you can substitute real meat for the seitan, Quorm Meatless Grounds or Morningstar crumbles. But since this dish is so scrumptous, you honestly won’t need to. All my favorite carnivores (i.e. my kids and Nick) love it. The secret to turning the seitan or soy crumbles or Quorn micoprotein crumbles into sausage is frying them in oil so they are crispy along with a generous 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds. For this recipe you can save time by washing and chopping the vegetables and opening all the cans while you’re waiting for the pasta to boil. Meatless Pizza Casserole
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
----------------
---------------
1 - Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Bring big pot of water to boil and cook the pasta. Chop the vegetables, open the cans and grate the cheese while that’s happening. When you try a noodle and find it done to your liking, drain and rinse the pasta briefly under cold water. 2 - Heat a large ovenproof skillet and put in a couple tablespoons of oil. When sizzling add the meat substitutes and fennel seeds and fry over medium-high heat until just crispy and the fennel seeds are popping. Takes around 5 minutes. Add more oil if the meatless protein starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Add another teaspoon of oil and fry the mushrooms until they release some of their water and are soft, about 3 minutes. Add to the meatless protein bowl.
3 - Add another teaspoon of oil if needed and add onions and peppers. Cook 2-3 minutes until they start to wilt, then add tomatoes and juices and all the spices. Simmer uncovered 20-30 minutes. 4 - Pour almost all the sauce into another bowl, leaving a small layer in the bottom of the pan. Add cooked pasta to the pan. Spread all the sauce on top of the pasta, top with mushrooms and the meat substitute/fennel mixture, and then add the cheeses, spreading the over the top like on a pizza. Cover with aluminum foil and pop into a preheated 350-degree oven (I use pizza setting on my RV oven).
5 - Bake 35 minutes, checking once for timing. Your entire casserole should be bubbling nicely. Uncover and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so until the top is starting to get golden patches. Let stand 10 minutes or so before cutting into it. 6 - Scatter parsley over the top and serve.
Tell me this meatless pizza casserole isn’t the best thing you’ve ever eaten!
I usually serve this with a green spring-mix salad dressed only with a little olive oil and salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar and some nice bread like ciabatta if I can get it.
If you do like this recipe, please let me know. If you don’t, DEFINITELY let me know. I’m on Twitter @DietforaTinyHouse and here on MobileRVing-- Wendy
Explore your meatless options!
Morningstar Farms products
Gardein products
Upton Seitan products
Quorm Grounds
(No, I do not work for these companies. I just love their products!)
About Blog Author Wendy Gorski: I'm a full-time traveler with my husband Nick, and we live in a 2011 Airstream travel trailer. In 2012, we sold our 4,000-square-foot house with its gourmet kitchen and bought our 100-square-foot tiny Airstream house. In this blog, I'll share recipes, tips, thoughts, and experiences as we careen across the country in search of adventure. All my recipes will be primarily plant-based, fast to cook, easy to clean up, and delicious!
Here is a sausage-mushroom pasta dish that tastes like sausage pizza. It’s “Let’s-go-back-for-my-third-serving” delicious. If you want to get conservative with water, you can avoid washing multiple pots and use a Dutch oven to do everything: boil the pasta, make the sauce, and cook the casserole in different stages. But here I am using two pots, because now we have left California and are in Missouri where I don’t need to conserve water in my Airstream and I am lazy.
When my kids were little and I was moving our family toward a plant-based diet (and they were being dragged along kicking and screaming), I used to experiment with meaty plant-based dishes. I know, that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but here’s the deal. I didn’t always succeed.
But that was 20 years ago and now we live in a different world. Supermarkets offer a variety of delicious soy, mushroom, and wheat-based meat substitutes. Just go to the healthier-food section of the supermarket freezer section where they keep the Amy’s frozen dinner products and you will find them. That’s also where you can find the Morningstar plant-based bacon used in the last few recipes.
If you must, you can substitute real meat for the seitan, Quorm Meatless Grounds or Morningstar crumbles. But since this dish is so scrumptous, you honestly won’t need to. All my favorite carnivores (i.e. my kids and Nick) love it. The secret to turning the seitan or soy crumbles or Quorn micoprotein crumbles into sausage is frying them in oil so they are crispy along with a generous 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds. For this recipe you can save time by washing and chopping the vegetables and opening all the cans while you’re waiting for the pasta to boil. Meatless Pizza Casserole
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
----------------
- 1 package of Upton’s Natural’s Original Seitan strips (sold in Whole Foods among other markets) OR Quorn Meatless Grounds, OR Gardein Beefless Ground OR Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles
- Olive or other cooking oil
- 1 cup chopped sweet peppers (green, yellow or red or an assortment!)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce (Trader Joe’s is great), tomato sauce, or tomato juice or a combo of these
- 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes and their juice (I like the fire-roasted variety)
- 2 teaspoons fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
- 1 teaspoon dried or fresh chopped oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups uncooked shaped pasta like wagon wheels, ziti, fusilli, etc. (about 10 ounces dry)
- 3 ounces or more to your preference shredded mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese or combo of both
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
---------------
1 - Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Bring big pot of water to boil and cook the pasta. Chop the vegetables, open the cans and grate the cheese while that’s happening. When you try a noodle and find it done to your liking, drain and rinse the pasta briefly under cold water. 2 - Heat a large ovenproof skillet and put in a couple tablespoons of oil. When sizzling add the meat substitutes and fennel seeds and fry over medium-high heat until just crispy and the fennel seeds are popping. Takes around 5 minutes. Add more oil if the meatless protein starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Add another teaspoon of oil and fry the mushrooms until they release some of their water and are soft, about 3 minutes. Add to the meatless protein bowl.
3 - Add another teaspoon of oil if needed and add onions and peppers. Cook 2-3 minutes until they start to wilt, then add tomatoes and juices and all the spices. Simmer uncovered 20-30 minutes. 4 - Pour almost all the sauce into another bowl, leaving a small layer in the bottom of the pan. Add cooked pasta to the pan. Spread all the sauce on top of the pasta, top with mushrooms and the meat substitute/fennel mixture, and then add the cheeses, spreading the over the top like on a pizza. Cover with aluminum foil and pop into a preheated 350-degree oven (I use pizza setting on my RV oven).
5 - Bake 35 minutes, checking once for timing. Your entire casserole should be bubbling nicely. Uncover and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so until the top is starting to get golden patches. Let stand 10 minutes or so before cutting into it. 6 - Scatter parsley over the top and serve.
Tell me this meatless pizza casserole isn’t the best thing you’ve ever eaten!
I usually serve this with a green spring-mix salad dressed only with a little olive oil and salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar and some nice bread like ciabatta if I can get it.
If you do like this recipe, please let me know. If you don’t, DEFINITELY let me know. I’m on Twitter @DietforaTinyHouse and here on MobileRVing-- Wendy
Explore your meatless options!
Morningstar Farms products
Gardein products
Upton Seitan products
Quorm Grounds
(No, I do not work for these companies. I just love their products!)
About Blog Author Wendy Gorski: I'm a full-time traveler with my husband Nick, and we live in a 2011 Airstream travel trailer. In 2012, we sold our 4,000-square-foot house with its gourmet kitchen and bought our 100-square-foot tiny Airstream house. In this blog, I'll share recipes, tips, thoughts, and experiences as we careen across the country in search of adventure. All my recipes will be primarily plant-based, fast to cook, easy to clean up, and delicious!
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