I love a cozy and creamy baked pasta, but I love it even more in mini form. These individual ramekin pasta bakes have a serious mac and cheese vibe going on. Dairy-free, grain-free, and no one will believe it. As one reader put it: “My non-vegan husband fancies himself a pasta connoisseur and he couldn’t get enough of it.” Perfect for a holiday dinner or a Friday date night at home. Serve this baked vegan red pepper pasta alongside my shaved arugula fennel salad with apple for a complete and beautiful spread.

The red pepper cream sauce is the foundation here and it’s quite versatile! Roasted red peppers blend with cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, and vegetable stock into a lush sauce that’s deeply savory, a bit smoky, and faintly sweet. It coats the pasta beautifully and bakes up into something that somewhat reminds me of a creamy romesco sauce. You want a short pasta with ridged edges that will help the sauce cling.

The cracker topping is the best part! Because this has a mac and cheese vibe going on, I wanted a crunchy, savory topping. Crushed rosemary crackers go on top of each ramekin before baking — the Hu Kitchen grain-free sea salt crackers are particularly good! They shatter into the most satisfying crust and a little fresh rosemary on top makes the whole thing feel a bit fancier.

This is a great make-ahead dish for entertaining. The sauce can be blended up to three days ahead and kept in the fridge. Just cook the pasta, portion into ramekins, add the topping, and bake when you’re ready.

Creamy Vegan Baked Red Pepper Pasta

Individual ramekin pasta bakes with a creamy, dairy-free roasted red pepper and cashew sauce, penne, and a rosemary cracker topping.

5 from 6 reader reviews

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 25 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 55 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

Red Pepper Sauce

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, chopped (or ½ small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
• 2 roasted red peppers (from a jar)
• 1 tablespoon chopped sun dried tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon light miso
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon Tamari
• ½ cup hot water
• salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Baked Pasta Assembly

• 1 ½ cups small crackers of choice (I used Hu Kitchen’s Grain-Free Sea Salt Crackers)
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 8 oz (227 grams) short pasta

Equipment

• Blender

Notes

• I’ve made versions of this with both raw cashews and sunflower seeds and both were rich, creamy, and delicious! Just make sure that your sunflower seeds are fresh if you’re using those.
• You can use roasted peppers from a jar or homemade ones. If using ones from a jar, drain them a bit before blending into the sauce.
• You can make this sauce up to 5 days ahead of time. Just keep it sealed in the fridge and bring it up to room temperature before stirring into the cooked pasta.
• To make this soy-free, use a chickpea-based miso and swap coconut aminos for the tamari.
• The sauce is naturally well-seasoned with the miso and tamari in there. Also, the crackers I used had a good amount of salt. I barely had to season this dish with additional salt and pepper, which is saying something for me! All of this is to say: just taste as you go.

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set up four 1-cup capacity ramekins on a baking sheet and then set that aside.
• Prepare the red pepper sauce. Heat the teaspoon of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring often, until soft and slightly translucent, about 4 minutes. Then, add the smoked paprika and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
• Transfer the shallots and garlic to an upright blender. To the blender add the cashews, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, miso, lemon juice, Dijon, tamari, water, salt, and pepper. Blend the mixture on high until smooth and creamy, about 3 full minutes. Add more water by the tablespoon if necessary. You should have 2 cups of sauce when all is said and done. Set aside.
• Make the rosemary cracker topping. In a food processor fitted with the “S” blade, combine the crackers, rosemary, and olive oil. Pulse this mixture until the crackers are coarse crumbs. You should have a scant cup of cracker crumb topping total. Set aside.
• Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. Return the drained pasta to the pot that you cooked it in. Pour the red pepper sauce over top and give it a very thorough stir! You want the sauce to get into all the little corners.
• Divide the pasta among the 4 ramekins, about a heaped cup per ramekin. Then, evenly distribute the rosemary cracker topping amongst the ramekins, sprinkling it on top of the pasta.
• Bake the pasta for 20-25 minutes, or until sufficiently heated through and the topping is slightly browned. Serve warm!

Author: Laura Wright

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Diet: Vegan

Keyword: vegan baked red pepper pasta, vegan red pepper pasta bake