Tuesday 19 May 2009

creamy mint pasta bake

I used to really like pasta bakes, but have sort of wandered away from them since we went vegan, mostly because of the lack of melty cheese to add on top. So I was intrigued by this pasta bake recipe by Earth Vegan. I modified it a bit, but my recipe was quite strongly influenced by that recipe.

creamy mint (vegan) pasta bake

creamy mint pasta bake

This does not reheat very well the next day, though it is doable.

ingredients
1 square of silken tofu
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp savoury yeast flakes
1 red chilli
1/4 cup mint leaves
2 tbl dried mint flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
large handful mushrooms
handful spinach leaves, shredded or torn
half a dozen snake beans
half a cup of peas

300ish grams of pasta spirals

method
Prepare the pasta. Blend together tofu, milk, yeast flakes, chilli, mint, garlic and cumin. You may wish to slice the chilli before adding it to the blender. Blend until well combined.

Slice and fry the mushrooms. Tail and slice the beans into thirds, and add to the pasta to cook when there are a few minutes remaining for the pasta. In a baking tray, combine pasta, spinach, beans, peas and mushrooms, then cover in tofu mixture. Ensure that everything is covered by the tofu. Bake at 175C for 15 minutes.

7 comments:

Vaishali said...

I like the addition of spinach and beans. I am curious-- what sort of a flavor did the yeast flakes contribute?

Theresa said...

Pasta bakes are one of our go-to cold weather meals. I've never thought to add mint, though. Your recipe sounds like it's got a very interesting flavour, and next time I have mint I will make a point to give it a go.

steph said...

Hi Vaishali, the yeast flakes added a sort of a cheesy-ish flavour to it, but only a very subtle one (that's why it was such a small amount). The beans especially were a good addition.

Theresa, give it a go - it was very strong but very tasty!

Eloise said...

thank god! my boyfriend came home with a pack of silken tofu the other day (he'd bought it on special-couldn't resist a bargain??) and I was worried it would rot in our fridge, since we never use the stuff.

i'll definitely try this!

steph said...

Eloise, why did he buy it, even on special, if you never eat it?! If I ever find I have a pack of silken tofu and I don't know what to do with it, I just mash it up and add it to any old pasta sauce, it bulks it up.

Eloise said...

He thought we might make scrambled tofu with it :/

I can't even begin to imagine how that would turn out!!!

He meant well at least :)

steph said...

eloise, scrambled tofu can be quite tasty!