Description
A vegan twist on the classic upstate New York pasta dish. Creamy, rich and flavorful tomato sauce tossed with rigatoni pasta and topped with marinaded tofu.
Ingredients
Scale
Marinaded Tofu
- 14 oz block extra firm tofu (pressed and cut into 1 inch squares )
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar (you can sub for red wine vinegar )
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp dry oregano
Pasta and Sauce
- 1 cup raw cashews (soak them ahead of time if you don't have a high speed blender )
- 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice ((about 1 lemon))
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 lb rigatoni
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 sweet onion (diced)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 pickled cherry peppers (see notes )
- 5 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 red bell pepper (diced)
- 1 yellow bell pepper (diced)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup vegetable stock
Instructions
- Make the cashew cream. Place the cashews, non-diary milk, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of salt into a high speed blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl, cover and cool in the fridge. It's best to give it a day to cool but just giving it an hour will work.
- Marinade the tofu at least 30 minutes in advance. Whisk together the red wine, sherry, olive oil, garlic and oregano in a small bowl. Place tofu pieces into a tupperware container and pour the marinade over it. Shake a few times to cover and set in the fridge to marinade while the pasta cooks.
- When you're ready to cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package directions.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add in the onions with sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Saute the onions until they become translucent, about 2-3 minutes then add in the cherry peppers. Cook for another two minutes until the peppers start to release their juices and get fragrant. Add in the garlic and bell peppers. Saute until bell peppers start to soften, about 5 minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Pour the wine over the vegetables and bring to a simmer. Simmer the wine for 2 minutes until it is reduced by about half. The add in the tomato paste and whisk until smooth. Add in the crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock mix and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce covered for 15 minutes.
- While the sauce is simmering, heat a cast iron skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the tofu to the skillet and stir fry until brown and crispy. This should take 6-8 minutes depending on how hot the pan is.
- When the sauce is done simmering, add the cashew cream and whisk until creamy. You can add extra red pepper flakes to taste if you like it spicier.
- Toss the noodles in the sauce, add the tofu and some fresh basil if you have it! Enjoy!!
Notes
I have found pickled cherry peppers on amazon but if you can’t find them, any other pickled hot pepper will do! You can also just substitute for 1 tbsp red pepper flakes but it’s really not the same.
Keywords: cashews, cherry peppers, cream cheese, creamy, dairy free, spicy, vegan, vegetarian