My son has been bugging me for mac and cheese lately, so I thought I would give in and make him a batch. But my hubby and I didn't want the dairy. I started digging around in the pantry and frig to see what I had and what could I do with it. I found a jar of roasted red peppers and thought that would make a good cream sauce. But I was out of plain vegan milk and didn't think very vanilla would do the trick. So what could I do to make it creamy?
TOFU TO THE RESCUE!
I grabbed a brick of tofu and the blender and threw it all in. I kept it fairly simple and it actually turned out pretty darn good. Eli even grabbed a serving of it after he finished his "normal" mac and cheese.
Let me be clear about this. I was NOT attempting to make some sort of mac and cheese substitute. This is mac, but with a pepper sauce instead of cheese. Don't make it thinking you can pass it off for a box of the blue stuff (although the color is pretty close).
This is a completely made up recipe. So if you think you can make it better, start messing around in the kitchen. Just be sure to post pictures! ; )
MACARONI WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER TOFU SAUCE
(serves 4, GF if made with rice/corn pasta)
4 servings whole wheat or multi-grain macaroni, cooked according to package directions
(reserve 1/2 cup pasta water)
1/2 brick firm tofu
1 jar roasted red peppers (do not drain)
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 T. fresh basil
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper to taste
Place tofu and peppers in blender and blend until smooth. Heat olive oil in pan and cook garlic and onion until soft but not brown. Add to onion, garlic, basil and seasonings to the pepper mix in blender. Process for 1-2 minutes until completely smooth and creamy. Pour back into fry pan and warm (do not boil). Add cooked pasta and reserved pasta water to pan and toss to coat pasta. Serve with fresh parsley and more crushed red pepper.
No comments:
Post a Comment