Comforting nutritious pasta layered with Mediterranean flavors. The roasted red pepper pasta sauce is thickened with cannellini beans and sparkles with the citrusy goodness of fresh lemon juice. This dish is topped with a delightfully crunchy herb seasoned tofu crumble. Use any pasta you like and make it your own!
ABOUT THIS RECIPE
This is an attractive oil-free vegan meal inspired by the familiar flavor palette of classic Italian American comfort food. Although many of us equate red pasta sauces with tomatoes, there are other ways to make a red sauce. Enter the red bell pepper, a flashy diva in the world of vegetables. I’ve always loved red bell peppers. Maybe it’s the optics—red bell peppers are just pretty! Or maybe what I like most is that they can be used in so many different kinds of cuisines in an endless number of ways. Being helplessly drawn to these crimson beauties means that when I stumble upon a bounty of reasonably priced red bell peppers, I tend to buy a bunch at a time, save a few for salads, and roast the rest to use in sandwiches, wraps, pizzas or whatever else I think up. If you do it right, oven roasting creates a delicious roasted pepper juice that’s slightly caramelized. The idea for this recipe came to me when I was trying to think of a pasta sauce that would utilize both the satiny flesh of roasted red peppers as well as their juice. I created a mild sauce that’s thickened with cannellini beans. Fresh lemon juice and a modest amount of tomato paste help compensate for the fact that red peppers don’t have the zesty acidity that I enjoy in tomato based red sauces. Arguably the most fun and satisfying part of this recipe is the crunchy tofu crumble that’s been generously seasoned with dried basil and oregano. Without the topping, this dish would be too dull. The topping and sauce can be prepared well in advance making this a versatile recipe for busy schedules.
JUICY OVEN ROASTED PEPPERS
This recipe relies on properly oven roasting red peppers in order to capture their juice. This step can be done ahead of time. I mean like way ahead of time, days in advance, if you prefer.
To create truly juicy roasted red peppers you need to use a conventional oven. I’ve tried various recipes for air fryer blackened peppers, but because air fryers are mini convection ovens, they dry out the peppers. As far as the pan, use any sturdy pan. A cookie sheet is fine, but so is any type of pyrex bakeware. Just cover your pan with plenty of parchment paper. Aluminum foil also works. The idea is to minimize sticking and clean up and, for that, parchment paper is perfect. I find that the perfect temperature for roasting peppers is 450°. Peppers will have to roast for 25 to 30 minutes or until the skin on the pepper is blackened. The amount of time will depend on your oven, the size of your peppers and how many peppers you’re roasting at a time. It’s a good idea to get in there and turn the peppers once or twice during the roasting time so that they blacken on all sides. Once blackened, remove peppers from the roasting pan and place them in a bowl to cool.
The trick is to peel and seed your peppers one at a time while they’re inside a bowl. This is so that juice is captured during the peeling process. Discard the seeds, stems and charred peel so all that’s left in the bowl is the juice and the flesh of the peppers.
WHIPPING UP THE SAUCE
There’s no way around it. You will need a blender or food processor to create the sauce for this recipe. Place the peeled and seeded roasted red peppers, the juice you’ve captured, and all other sauce ingredients in the bowl of a blender or food processor and process until smooth. That’s it!
SEASONED TOFU CRUMBLE
Using super firm tofu instead of firm or extra firm saves time. That’s because super firm tofu has the consistency of tofu that’s already been pressed. All you need to do is drain the liquid from the package and pat it dry. Super firm tofu, when available, is usually found alongside other types of refrigerated tofus. If you can’t find super firm tofu, you’ll need to get firm or extra firm and press it according to whatever pressing method you prefer, whether that’s with a tofu press or by wrapping it up in a towel and putting something heavy on it for an extended period of time.
Once tofu has been patted dry (or pressed if not using super firm), make the crumbles by tearing tofu with your hands. Tofu crumbles are then tossed twice. First in a mixture of tahini and tamari, then again in a mixture of all the dry seasoning ingredients including cornstarch.
Spread seasoned tofu crumbles on a parchment covered baking sheed and bake at 400 °F for 25 minutes, tossing after the first 15 minutes.
Seasoned tofu crumbles can be made well in advance and stored in the fridge in a sealed container.
A WORD ABOUT TAHINI
In this recipe I’m using a small amount of tahini as an oil substitute in the crumbled tofu. Yes, tahini has a high fat content, but unlike oil, it is a whole plant food that adds a lovely layer of flavor. Due to its high fat content, people sometimes have trouble understanding that tahini is an acceptable ingredient in a WFPB adherent diet. But having fat doesn’t prevent something from being a whole plant food. Avocados are a whole plant food, as are nuts and fresh coconut. All of these foods are also high in fat. Tahini is a whole plant food because it is a paste made from whole sesame seeds with nothing bad added and nothing good removed. Fortunately for fat gram counting WFPB adherent folks, a little bit of tahini goes a long way. So the fat count per serving for this dish remains quite low despite the tahini. If you are not following an oil-free eating plan, olive oil can be used instead of tahini in this recipe.
USE ANY PASTA
This recipe was designed for one pound of cooked dry pasta or an equivalent quantity of fresh pasta. I used whole wheat penne pasta. You can use any pasta you like, dry or fresh. Stuffed pasta like tortellini or ravioli could also work. And, of course, you can use gluten free pasta if you’d like. If you don’t want to make a large batch of pasta all at once, you can store the sauce and tofu crumble in the fridge or freezer to use as needed for smaller amounts. Whatever pasta you choose, I strongly recommend that you cook it according to the instructions on the package after you’ve prepared the sauce and the topping. Sauces can sit and wait for pasta, but pasta doesn’t do well when it sits around without sauce.
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Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Topped with Crunchy Herb Seasoned Tofu Crumble Oil-Free Vegan
Equipment
- blender or food processor
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- large pot (for making pasta)
- 2 medium bowls
- 1 small bowl
Ingredients
For the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- 3 red bell peppers
- 1 cup cooked cannellini beans, strained (or any white bean such as navy or great northern)
- juice of 1 large lemon (about 4 to 5 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 to 5 fresh garlic cloves)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
For the Crunchy Herb Seasoned Tofu Crumble
- 1 lb super firm tofu (you can also use firm or extra firm tofu that's been pressed)
- 1 Tbsp tahini (or sub with olive oil)
- 1 Tbsp tamari (or sub with coconut aminos)
- 1 Tbsp dried basil
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
For the Pasta
- 1 lb dried pasta, any shape (or equivalent amount of fresh pasta)
Instructions
Roast & Prepare the Red Peppers
- Preheat oven to 450 ℉
- Line a sturdy baking sheet (or other container such as a pyrex pan) with parchment paper.
- Place the washed red bell peppers on the lined baking sheet or pan. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the skin of the pepper is fully blackened. To ensure uniform blackening, it's best to turn peppers once or twice during roasting.
- Remove the peppers from the pan and place them in a bowl and allow to cool until easy to handle. The bowl is there to capture the juices while you work with the peppers.
- While each pepper is still in the bowl, remove blackened peel, stem and seeds, allowing juice to drip into the bowl while discarding the seeds and peels.
- Set aside.
Make the Crunchy Herb Seasoned Tofu Crumble
- Preheat oven to 400 ℉ and line a a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove excess water from the super firm tofu package, then pat it dry with a towel or dish cloth to remove as much excess moisture as possible. (Note that if you're using firm or extra firm tofu you will need to have already pressed it).
- Using your hands, crumble tofu into small pieces into a small or medium bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, basil, oregano, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Combine the tamari and tahini in a medium bowl.
- Add the tofu crumbles to the tamari and tahini mixture. Using a cake spatula or wooden spoon, toss the crumbles in the tamari and tahini mixture until evenly coated.
- Now add the mixture of cornstarch, basil, oregano, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper and toss until the tofu crumbles are evenly coated.
- Spread the coated tofu crumbles over the parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for a total of 25 minutes turning them after the first 15 minutes so that they crisp evenly. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Roasted Red Pepper Sauce• Place peeled, seeded, roasted red peppers and their juice in the bowl of a blender or food processor along with cannellini beans, lemon juice, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper• Process until smooth and set aside
Prepare the Pasta
- Prepare your pasta according to the directions on the package. An al dente cooking point is best for this recipe.
- When straining the pasta, reserve approximately ½ cup of the pasta water and set it aside.
Put it All Together
- Return the pasta to the pot and add the sauce.
- Add small amounts of the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to water down the sauce to a desired consistency. How much pasta water you use depends on your personal preference, so add just a couple of tablespoons at a time until you decide that the sauce is watery enough. Depending on various factors like how much juice you got from your red peppers, you may not need, or want, to use any pasta water at all.
- Serve pasta in individual bowls and top with crunchy herb seasoned tofu crumbles.
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