One of the characters in “Girls5eva” works in what she refers to as an “authentic-ish” Italian restaurant, so I knew I wanted to do a pairing with the baked mostaccioli I grew up with in St. Louis.

This vegan, gluten-free mostaccioli recipe makes 6 “servings.”

Ingredients
12 ounces gluten-free, vegan penne or rigatoni
1.5 cups TVP (textured vegetable protein)
2.5 cups marinara
2.5 cups vegan mozzarella and/or parmesan, shredded or shaved
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon parsley

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 oven-safe baking dish.

Cook the pasta according to the packaging instructions.

Meanwhile, hydrate your dried TVP according to its packaging instructions.

Drain the pasta and mix the noodles, hydrated TVP and marinara together.

Pour the mostaccioli into the greased baking pan.

Top with the cheese and sprinkle the oregano, basil and parsley over the top of the cheese.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty.

Split into six squares/servings and serve up with an episode or two of “Girls5eva!”

The Easy Route
You might be able to find a frozen version of this at a grocery store or have a restaurant nearby that can whip up some vegan, gluten-free pasta for takeout or delivery.

The Pairing
As someone who loved pop music as a teenager at the turn of the millennium, I absolutely adore “Girls5eva.”

The show follows a girl group (named Girls5eva) from that era in the present day as they contemplate reuniting.

Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Wickie (Renée Elise Goldberry), Gloria (Paula Pell) and Summer (Busy Philipps) are the surviving members of the group. Ashley (Ashley Park), who died 20 years ago, appears in flashback scenes throughout the series’ three seasons.

Bareilles, Goldberry and Philipps all play their characters in the flashbacks, but Gloria is played by Erika Henningsen in them. The explanation is that she did a lot of drugs and didn’t age well, so even though she’s the same age as the other characters, she looks about 15 years older in present day.

One of my favorite things about “Girls5eva” is the song lyrics, sometimes they are downright ridiculous and hilarious, other times they are heartfelt and relatable. I highly recommend letting the credits roll at the end of each episode so you can hear a little more of the songs.

I loved the show’s first two seasons, and I was so sad when I heard Peacock canceled it. But the good news is Netflix picked it up, and season three premiered earlier this month.

It was very easy to marathon through the six episodes in this new season, which I did in one night. The show kept the high-quality subversive humor I loved about the first two seasons and ran with it, bringing a lot more ridiculous bops along for the ride.

I’m optimistic there will be a fourth season, and I cannot wait to see what’s next for my favorite girl group.

If you decide to make this mostaccioli and/or watch “Girls5eva,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes