Baked Penne with Tofu Ricotta

I love pasta, any shape and any size, fixed any way. I also love what is mostly a one pot meal that has a few leftover servings. I used penne for this dish but you could use ziti, rigatoni or whatever you have in your pantry. I also used a store bought marinara that I really enjoy. It's made by Barilla and they have a fire roasted marinara, plain marinara and a garlic marinara. I bought the plain one since it has very little oil or sodium added. Feel free to tweak this recipe and make it yours.

• 14 ounces Penne pasta
• 24 ounces marinara sauce
• 1 pound firm tofu, drained and pressed
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• freshly ground black pepper

Drain the tofu and put in on a clean kitchen towel.

Fold towel over the top of the tofu.

Press the tofu with something heavy. I love to use the lid to my Dutch oven.

Preheat oven to 350F. Start water for cooking the pasta. In a medium sized bowl crumble the tofu. 

Add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice and all the spices, including the black pepper.

Cook pasta a couple minutes less than the box indicates. It will finish cooking when baking. Add the drained pasta to a large bowl. Add 2 cups of the marinara. Stir well.

Add just enough marinara (about half of what's left) to the bottom of an 8x8 casserole dish. Cover the entire bottom.

Add half of the pasta to the dish.

Add all of the tofu ricotta.

Top with the remaining pasta.

Cover with the remaining marinara.

Cover with parchment paper.

Cover the parchment paper with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. (I use my toaster oven so I don't heat up the house.)

Serve with a side salad.

Enjoy!!!

Ratatouille

This is the perfect time to make ratatouille. All the ingredients are in season and are at their peak. This will make about 4 main dish servings. You should use regular sized tomatoes for this dish but I didn't have any so I threw in home-grown cherry tomatoes. Ideally all of your produce should be about the same size. This is truly a delicious dish and can be served with a side salad, pasta or bread.

• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 large red onion, sliced
• 1 large zucchini, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 large yellow squash, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 medium Japanese eggplant, sliced (about 3 cups)
• 2 -3 large tomatoes, sliced

In a medium bowl add the crushed tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, pepper and chili powder. Stir well to combine.

Pour the tomato mixture into the bottom  your casserole dish. 

These veggies are so pretty! Preheat oven to 350F. I used my toaster oven.

Stack the vegetable slices in alternating patterns and place them on their side in the pan. Repeat until you've used all the veggies. I had to push some in along the side to use them all.

Bake for about an hour. You want to tomato sauce bubbling hot and the veggies tender.

I served this with brown rice spaghetti noodles. While the Ratatouille cooks you will have time to prepare pasta or a salad.

This was so flavorful. Be sure and sprinkle some nutritional yeast over it all before digging in.

Enjoy!!!

Broccoli with Spicy Garlic Sauce

This will remind you of a favorite Chinese dish.  It's all about the sauce and is super easy to make. I also liked this dish because it only has a few ingredients that come together quickly. I served this over rice so you will want to get your rice started before you begin making this dish. You could also add sliced mushrooms or cubed tofu to this dish to bulk it up some.

Sauce:

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 6 cloves garlic, minced (I used already minced, cheater garlic)
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Ingredients:

• 6 cups broccoli florets
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• Garnish: scallions, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Put about 1/4 cup of the sauce in a measuring cup or small bowl. Stir in the cornstarch until it's lump free. Set aside.

Heat the 2-3 tablespoons water in a large skillet. Once water is  hot add the broccoli and cook 3-5 minutes. 

Add the bowl of sauce to the broccoli and stir. Then add the sauce/cornstarch mixture and cook until the sauce thickens, about 3-5 minutes more.

I served this over rice and garnished with chopped peanuts, sliced scallions and a few sprinkles of black sesame seeds.

Enjoy!!!

Tex-Mex Stuffed Zucchini

I made these for dinner last week and they were delicious. I had leftover filling and used it to stuff poblano peppers a few days later. The tofu chorizo was wonderful. I found that recipe online at Minimalist Baker website. If heat isn't your thing then you could use diced tomatoes in place of the Ro-Tel. 

2 medium sized zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 box plain couscous, cooked according to package directions
1 can Ro-Tel, slightly drained
1 recipe Tofu Chorizo

I used a melon-baller and scooped out the inside of my zucchini. Be care and don't go through the skin. Save the inside part you scoop out.

Put the zucchini boats aside.

Chop half of the inside part of the zucchini in a non-stick skillet until soft. Add a little vegetable broth to keep it moving, if needed.

Make the chorizo and set aside when it's done.

Cook couscous according to package directions. Once it's done remove half of the couscous to a bowl and add the drained Ro-Tel and stir well. Add a layer to the bottom of your casserole dish.

In a separate bowl, mix the couscous mixture, chorizo and a little vegan mozzarella cheese, you can omit this if you wish. Taste to see if it needs black pepper or any seasonings. The chorizo  has lots of flavor so I didn't add anything else. Stuff this combined mixture into the zucchini halves.

Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes until the zucchini gets tender and all the filling is nice and hot.

I served these with the remaining couscous and fresh sliced tomatoes. Delicious.

Enjoy!!!