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Vegan Pasta with Creamy (Tofu) Tomato Sauce

Madhuram — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 23:22:17 +0000

Vegan and creamy? Sounds like an oxymoron right? The secret to the creaminess is “silken tofu”. It’s pureed and mixed with regular pasta sauce and is topped over the pasta and steamed vegetables. This recipe is from the book Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy. I had copied it a long time back. As soon as I came to know about Vaishali’s It’s a Vegan World – Italian event, this dish came to my mind.

Those who have not tasted tofu before or having doubts about how it would taste in a sauce, you can take my word on this one. I’m very sure that you will love this sauce and pasta dish. The sauce tastes nothing like tofu. You will not get any weird smell or funny after taste. Even my son who generally eats plain cooked pasta, did not mind the sauce this time. Now he has two favorite pasta sauces, the beet sauce and this one. For the beet sauce I had used ricotta cheese to get the creaminess, but this one tasted as good as the beet sauce. We also did not miss the white pasta. I think the sauce even made the whole wheat penne to taste better.

Unused portion of tofu has to be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator and should be used within 2-3 days. Don’t know what to do with the balance tofu? Check out here for other silken tofu recipes.

Ingredients

Uncooked penne, whole wheat 2 cups

Broccoli 4 cups

Silken Tofu 1/2 cup

Pasta Sauce (I used Preggos Heart Smart Italian Sauce) 1 and 1/2 cup

Salt as per taste

Ground pepper to taste

Procedure 1 Cook pasta as per package directions. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2-3/4 cup cooking water.

2 Steam broccoli until tender, about 6-7 minutes.

3 Puree the tofu in a food processor or blender, until smooth.

4 In a medium saucepan combine tofu, pasta sauce and enough reserved pasta water to create a creamy sauce. Cook sauce over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Do not boil.

5 Season to taste with salt and pepper.

6 Transfer pasta to serving bowl; add broccoli, and toss to mix.

7 Top with sauce, and serve.

My Notes 1 I did not measure the servings exactly, but I’m sure it is enough to feed at least 3 adults.

2 The original recipe had 1/2 cup chopped black olives. If you want to use it, you should add it to the sauce while it’s heating.

3 If you are able to find reduced-fat firm silken tofu use it, because that was mentioned in the original recipe. I didn’t get it, so I have used Mori Nu’s regular silken tofu.

4 My son loves broccoli, so there was almost nothing left for the pasta when we sat down to eat. I had a pack of frozen Italian vegetables (broccoli, carrots and cauliflower). So I steamed it and tossed it with the pasta. That was good too.

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Curried Pasta and Vegetables – A Vegan Pasta Dish

Madhuram — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:55:40 +0000

Recently I have been seeing a lot of Indian/Indianized recipes in the Western cookbooks. The Curried Pasta and Vegetables is one such recipe from the book “1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes”. As the name suggests the book has 1001 low-fat vegetarian recipes; from appetizers to desserts the recipes are classified under 17 categories. I think I have to keep renewing this book in the library at least for 2-3 months.

Coming to this recipe, I adapted it from one of the recipes in the book. This is also a vegan pasta dish, without any cheese. Since the pasta gets it’s flavor from the curry sauce, the taste gets even better the next day. So you can prepare this on Sunday evening and have it for Monday’s dinner. The curry sauce can also be prepared ahead and it’s also versatile. Just throw in the vegetables you have at hand, the curry sauce and the pasta, you have a wholesome and nutritious meal ready in no time.

Ingredients

Vegetables of your choice – 2 cups (I used a combination of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots readily available in the frozen food section, 16oz pack)

Dry Pasta of your choice – 1 cup (I used Whole Wheat Penne)

Cilantro, chopped – 1/4 cup

Salt and pepper, to taste

Curry Sauce – Recipe follows

For the Curry Sauce

Olive Oil – 1 teaspoon

Onion, finely chopped – 1/4 cup

Garlic, minced – 4 cloves

All purpose flour – 2 tablespoons

Curry Powder – 2 teaspoons

Cayenne Pepper/Chilli Powder – 1/4 teaspoon

Vegetable Broth – 2 cups

Cornstarch – 1 tablespoon

Dry white wine or Water – 1/4 cup (I used water)

Salt and pepper, to taste.

Step-by-Step Procedure For Curry Sauce

1. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to a medium saucepan; saute onion and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Stir in flour, curry powder and chilli powder. Cook 1 minute, stirring.

3. Add broth and heat to boiling.

4. In a small vessel combine the cornstarch and water, until the cornstarch dissolves without forming any lumps. Add this mixture to the boiling broth and bring it to a boil, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. (Actually it took more than a minute for the mixture to thicken.)

5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Assembling the Pasta

1. Steam the vegetables for 8-10 minutes if using frozen vegetables. If using fresh ones 6-8 minutes should be fine. Sprinkle some salt and toss the vegetables once, while steaming.

2. Cook pasta as per the instructions in the package. Drain it, reserving around 1/4 to 1/2 of the pasta cooked water.

3. Combine together the steamed veggies, pasta and the curry sauce. Check for seasoning and sprinkle cilantro.

This is my entry for the following events
1. Suganya’s Vegan Ventures
2. Mansi’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Arusuvai Ingredients & Cooking From Other Blogs!

Madhuram — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:28:37 +0000

Food blogging has given me a lot of new friends. One such very special person is Dee. Sometime (actually very longtime) back she had sent me a BIG package for the Arusuvai Friendship Chain. She had sent her delicious home made granola, koora podi, aam papad and a gorgeous Kitchen Aid Recipe Box.

The granola tasted unbelievably good, I was munching it on throughout the day and did not have anything left to prepare a dish using it. Sorry Dee it was not my fault that the granola was so delicious. The koora podi is also so good, it enhances the flavor of any dish it’s added to. It also tastes good by itself as a side dish for Idli/Dosa. I use it in all my curries. Above is the picture of the Potato Roast and and below is the Coconut Rice that I prepared using the podi.

Recently I also prepared her Broccoli Patoli/Usli. It’s something I have never tried before, so I was really skeptical about the taste. But I tried it anyhow because it’s my husband’s favorite vegetable. We were not at all disappointed, because it tasted very good and I’m going to make this one regularly.

Thank you so much Dee for your recipes, friendship and more!

Uma has given me a Giant Bear Hug. Thank you very much dear, hugs to you too.

Hetal and Ranji have passed me the Friendship Award. Thank you very much girls, I’m so happy that you thought of me.

It’s very difficult to choose only a few people to extend my hugs and friendship. Anyhow I extend it to

Dee
Akay
Roma
Laksh

Recently I also tried 2 other recipes from other blogs and this is going to be a regular in our house.

Kalva’s Gongura Pachadi: It was my first try with gongura leaves and we loved the chutney very much. Thank you Kalva.

Laavanya’s Bhindi Masala: Although I have prepared bhindi masala a lot of times earlier, the tip which Laavanya has given to microwave the okra for 5-7 minutes before sauteeing it is such a wonderful idea. Try it out ladies, the okra does not get slimy at all. Thank you very much Laavanya. Can’t wait to try your oven baked Idli Manchurians.