Jump to RecipeWelcome to another recipe!
Spinach: Uses and Nutritional Value
Personally, I learned about spinach through the Popeye cartoon. This television cartoon was one of my favorites and watching the hero’s immense desire to eat spinach, so he can become stronger, made me wanting to try it for myself, which I did and I loved it. Spinach is a material that we can easily include in our diet, as it fits perfectly in many recipes. It is worth mentioning that in addition to pasta -which today’s recipe is about- spinach fits and improves the taste of omelets, salads, sandwiches and, also, the well-known, traditional food “spanakorizo” (spinach with rice). In terms of nutritional value, spinach is very important for our health. One of the most well-known benefits is the improvement of blood glucose for diabetics, the reduction of the risk of cancer, while at the same time it is a rich source of vitamins, iron, magnesium and calcium.
Homemade Cashew Cheese
In this recipe I wanted to offer you my own, favourite and -most importantly- easy idea to make cheese. Of course, you can replace it with ready-made, vegan feta or vegan cheese. However, I would suggest you to follow the complete recipe and try the saltiness of this particular cheese, which is made with simple and pure ingredients that will offer you -in addition to taste- many nutrients too. After all, let us not forget about cashews that are rich in fiber, iron, protein and magnesium. They, also, contain vitamin C and B. For all these reasons and so many others, buy cashew nuts and start the preparations.
Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Handmade Cashew Cheese
Ingredients
For shells and stuffing:
- 450 g shells or any other stuffed pasta
- 1 kg spinach (cleaned and stemmed)
- 2 fresh onions
- 1 dry onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 150 ml tomato juice
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dry basil
For the cheese:
- 200 g raw cashews
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Himlayan salt
- 1 pinch of pepper
Instructions
About the shells and the stuffing:
- We peel and finely chop the onions (fresh and dried) and the garlic clove.
- We add the olive oil to a pan and once it is hot, we fry the onions for 4 minutes.
- We add the garlic and stir, waiting for 1 minute to give us all the flavor and aroma.
- We add 1 tbsp salt, the garlic powder, the onion powder, the basil, the pepper and the tomato paste and mix well.
- Then, we add the spinach, which we make sure is cleaned and stemmed.
- We stir, close the lid and leave it for about 10 minutes until it softens and removes its liquids.
- We add 2L of water and 1 tbsp. of salt in a saucepan. Once the water boils, we add the pasta and let it boil for 12-13 minutes.
- When it is ready, we drain it in a colander.
About the cheese:
- We make sure to soak the cashews in water for 8 hours. Ideally we start the process the previous day.
- We rinse the cashews in running water and put them in a blender.
- In the same blender, we add the nutritional yeast, the lemon juice, the garlic clove (after we have cleaned it), the olive oil, the salt and the pepper and beat them for 2-3 minutes.
- Then, in a fireproof dish, we add the pasta one by one, which we fill with a small teaspoon with the spinach filling we have made.
- After we are done with the pasta, we take a tablespoon and add the cheese we have made on top.
- We pour over the tomato juice and 250ml of hot water.
- We bake for 30' at 180°C.
- We serve and enjoy!
Have a nice cooking session!
