In a large 5 qt. pot over medium heat, sauté the diced onion and tomato in oil until soft, about 3 minutes.
Add the paprika, chili powder and garlic powder and stir to combine.
Next, push the sautéed onion and diced tomato to one side of the pot and add the vegan ground beef to the other side to brown, about 6-8 minutes. You want it to be touching the bottom of the pot. If you put the vegan ground beef on top of diced onion it will just steam and not have crispy bits.
After the vegan ground beef has cooked and is crispy and brown, break it up with your spatula into bite sized pieces.
Add the uncooked pasta, vegan beef broth, and unsweetened plant based milk. Stir well to fully combine. Allow mixture to come to a light boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat slightly, add lid and allow pasta to cook for 6 minutes. While the pasta cooks, prepare the toasted breadcrumbs, if desired. Simply add the breadcrumb ingredients to a skillet over medium heat and toast until breadcrumbs turn a deep brown. Once deep brown, remove from heat and set aside for serving.
After 6 minutes, add broccoli florets, stir well to combine, add the lid and simmer again for another 4-6 minutes or until pasta is al dente and broccoli is cooked through.
Finally, mix in 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, 8 ounces of cream cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Heat until cream cheese is warmed through and fully melted into pasta, about 2 minutes.
Serve immediately with toasted breadcrumbs, if desired.
Vegan Beef Broth works really well for this recipe but you can also use Vegan Chicken Broth or just Vegetable Broth. I always use the Better than Bouillon Paste and just add water.