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Tofu and Butternut Squash Pasta Shells

A baked pasta shell dish with tofu, butternut squash, cashew cream sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

By Health Canada · From Canada's Food Guide · 15 ingredients
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Tofu and Butternut Squash Pasta Shells

Why it works: Butternut squash and spinach share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 82 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Tofu and Butternut Squash Pasta Shells

Serves 6
Oven200 °C (400 °F)
Time15 to 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sauce and filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Place cashews in a microwave‑safe dish and add 500 mL (2 cups) water. Microwave for 2 minutes and set aside.

  2. In a large pan, heat 15 mL (1 Tbsp) oil on medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until softened. Add butternut squash, spinach, salt and black pepper. Stir and reduce to low heat. Continue cooking until squash is tender and cooked through.

  3. Remove ⅓ of the butternut squash and place in blender along with soaked cashews and its soaking water. Set aside to cool.

  4. For the filling, crumble tofu into pan with remaining squash. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, and chili flakes. Mix together and set aside to cool.

  5. Once cashews have cooled, blend until smooth to create a cream sauce. Adjust consistency with more water if necessary.

Fill the shells

  1. Cook shells according to package directions and add 7 mL (½ Tbsp) oil to the water to prevent shells from sticking together.

  2. Spread a thin layer of cashew sauce on the bottom of a large oven‑safe casserole dish. Stuff each shell with 15 mL (1 Tbsp) of the butternut squash mixture and tightly pack into dish.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the remaining cream sauce over shells and sprinkle with cheese.

  2. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

743Calories
31 gProtein
39 gFat
74 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 16 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Cashew1 oz (28g / ~18 nuts)157
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Mozzarella Cheese1 oz (28g)85
Tofu100g firm76
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Pumpkinnot in our table0
Wheatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Health Canada. Recipe from Canada's Food Guide.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butternut squash + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together82 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cashews
Blend into a creamy sauce that coats the shells and adds richness.
Firm tofu
Provides a firm, protein-rich body to the filling that holds its shape.
Butternut squash
Adds moisture and mild sweetness, softening into the filling.
Whole wheat jumbo pasta shells
Form the sturdy container that holds the filling and sauce.
Mozzarella cheese
Melts over the top and browns in the oven for a golden finish.
Lemon
Its zest and juice add acidity that brightens the filling.

The step that matters

Blend the cashew cream sauce to the right consistency. Cashews blend into a smooth, emulsified sauce only once fully cooled and well softened. A sauce that is too thick will not coat the shells, and one that is too thin will run and make the dish watery, so adjusting it with water matters.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, clove, garlic, butternut squash, spinach, pepper, tofu):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Coconutfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, clove, garlic, butternut squash, spinach, pepper, tofu. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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