{BAKED PENNE FLORENTINE}

This recipe is from Dr. Mcdougall's website. My whole family liked it so I consider that a success.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Servings: 6-8

8 ounces uncooked penne pasta

10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I used fresh spinach)

1/4 c. vegetable broth

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c. raw cashews

1 3/4 c. water

1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed

1 T. soy sauce

1 T. white miso

2 t. lemon juice

1/4 t. dry mustard

1/4 t. cayenne

1/2 c. whole wheat bread crumbs

• Drop the pasta into a pot of boiling water and cook until just barely tender, about 6 minutes.
• Drain, place in a bowl and add the spinach. Mix well and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Place the onion and veggie broth in a medium frying pan.
• Cook, stirring occasionally until onion has softened. Set aside.
• Mix the cashews in a food processor or blender and process until finely ground.*
• Add half the water and blend until smooth.
• Add the remaining water, cooked onions, beans, soy sauce, miso, lemon juice, mustard and cayenne.
• Process until very smooth.
• Pour over the pasta and spinach and mix well.
• Transfer to covered casserole dish.
• Sprinkle with bread crumbs.
• Cover and bake for 45 minutes, let rest 5 minutes before serving.

*I did all the mixing of cashews through the cayenne in one step in my blendtec, and it worked great. If you are using a food processor, it might overflow if you do it in one step.

*I used the whole box of noodles (13.5 oz.) and then adjusted all the ingredients accordingly. This would have worked fine, except I still put it all in the same casserole dish. I would not recommend doing that. It didn't cook that well in the middle, and although we all still liked it, it would have been better if I had spread it out into one normal size and one half size dish since it was about one and a half times the recipe. Now I know for next time!

*This may be prepared ahead and refrigerated until baking time. Add about 15 minutes to the baking time.