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Vegan pasta with tofu
This Vegan Pasta with Tofu is enrobed in a luscious roasted red pepper sauce making for a delicious dinner. It’s quick and easy to make thanks to using a blender to whizz up the sauce.
With dried pasta being egg free, it’s no wonder that it’s a staple in any vegan’s kitchen. It’s simple to make and can be used to carry a range of sauces. For this recipe you can use any shape you want but tube shaped pasta work well to catch as much of the roasted red pepper sauce as possible. Good pasta shapes include penne, bucatini, tubini, and tortiglioni. While you’re cooking the tofu and making the sauce, the pasta can be happily boiling away, looking after itself.
A sprinkling of vegan parmesan finishes the dish off nicely as it is served.
Ingredients
300g dried pasta
280g firm tofu, cut into bite sized cubes
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp paprika (for the tofu coating)
1 white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika (for the sauce)
100ml dairy-free cream alternative
Vegan parmesan to serve
Method
1
In a large pan of boiling, salted water cook the pasta according to its instructions (roughly 10 – 15 minutes).
2
In the meantime, toss the tofu cubes in the cornflour and paprika, then fry in a little olive oil, occasionally turning them so each side gets crispy.
3
While the pasta and tofu are cooking, heat a little olive oil in a separate pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry for 5-8 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the remaining paprika to the pan and fry for another 2 minutes.
4
Leave the onions, garlic and pasta to cool slightly before adding to a blender along with the roasted red peppers and paprika. Blitz on high until you have a smooth sauce.
5
Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the tofu and pour over the sauce.
6
Stir to combine and cook for 10 minutes.
7
Finally add the cream alternative and stir well, cooking until piping hot.
8
Serve with vegan parmesan if you wish.
Top tips
Tofu is also another ingredient that’s popular with those following a plant based diet. It is high in protein as well as including other essentials like amino acids, fat, carbohydrate and a range of vitamins and minerals. It’s perfect for a healthy balanced diet. Tofu is also a fantastic flavour carried meaning you can pair it with a whole range of sauces and it will taste fantastic.
To make sure the tofu is the perfect crispy texture and full of flavour it is coated in cornflour and paprika before being fried. Once it’s nice and crisp it can be added to the sauce along with the cooked pasta. To make the sauce itself you will need onions, garlic, paprika, roasted red peppers and a little vegan cream. If you can’t get hold of vegan cream a plant based milk will work just fine. First you fry off the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Next the paprika is added to help it release it’s natural oils creating extra flavour. Once cooked the onions, garlic and paprika are added to a blender along with a jar of roasted red peppers. (You could make your own but it’s so much easier getting them from a jar). The ingredients are blitzed until smooth making a fantastic, bright orange pasta sauce.
While you’ve been making the sauce the pasta should have cooked and the tofu should be crispy. All of the ingredients are combined in a large pan and stirred together until piping hot. (If you want to add a little spice now is the perfect time to add some chilli flakes). The vegan cream is then added right at the last minute to make it creamy and luxurious.
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