Baked Ziti Pasta with Hummus

We love casseroles here at vegan.io but we also love pasta. So we decided to put them together and recur to an all time classic recipe for inspiration. We are making a delicious baked ziti pasta dish that you and your family will absolutely love. 

I personally love this recipe for a bunch of reasons. Baked ziti is super easy to make and makes feeding the family an easy task as well. I can put everything together, throw it in the oven and focus on other things while this beauty is cooking. 

Baked ziti pasta is a great option when I'm cooking for myself, as well. Not sharing means a lot of leftovers, which means less cooking for a couple of days! I have an awesome dish that's oven friendly and comes with a lid, perfect for occasions like this. I don't even have to transfer the pasta to another container to save it for later. It's all about practicality in my life! 

This recipe has a bit of a lasagna feel to it. But lasagna can be a bit more complicated and time-consuming to make. But if you love lasagna you are going to love baked ziti. The main ingredients are the same; pasta, of course, tomato sauce and grated vegan cheese to finish it off. 

The tomato sauce needs to be thick enough so every bit of pasta is properly covered. Hummus is the key ingredient here. It will add a ton of flavour and it makes our baked ziti super creamy. Hummus takes this sauce to a whole different level. And, adding hummus will help us easily rack up on plant-based protein without needing to add any extra ingredients. 

I love sneaking leafy green veggies wherever I can. Baked ziti basically asks for it so I decided to add some spinach. This veggie will bring a bunch of nutrients and benefits to our dish and it is soooo good. Also, spinach doesn't need much prep, if I have bigger leaves I slice them, but if I'm using the smaller kind or if I'm in a rush I just rip them apart with my hands while I'm adding them to the mix.

Vegan cheese wasn't that popular in my kitchen until recently. Lately, I've noticed you can find vegan cheese in pretty much any grocery store you go to. It's a lot easier to find nowadays and certainly lot cheaper too. I really like how it tastes and the fact that it actually melts when you heat it up.

Vegan cheese is what will seal the deal in our baked ziti pasta. Add a nice layer of grated vegan cheese on top of everything and set it in the oven for about 30 minutes. I usually let it sit in there until I see that a nice melted golden brown crust starts to sizzle. Just make sure to keep a close eye on it so you catch it as soon as it is ready!