Tuesday, April 24

Tofu Tuesday - Pesto Parm Tofu

Still on the weekly tofu kick.  :o)

So, last Tuesday I had a tomato and two bitty zucchinis that I needed to use up.  So I was thinking some kind of pasta veggie goodness... but how to incorporate tofu?  I had seen something about pesto and tofu, so I just went with it and mixed this and that together until I had dinner.  :o)

There isn't so much a specific recipe, but here's what I used:

For the veggie pasta:
  • Roma tomatoes
  • Zucchini
  • Cloves of garlic
  • Spiral pasta 
  • Olive Oil
For the pesto parm tofu:
  • Extra firm tofu
  • Pesto
  • Olive Oil
  • Grated parmesan
  • Breadcrumbs
So first things first.  Get some of that liquid out of your tofu (using either a press or ya know, school psych books.  Whatever works for ya!)   I let this dehydrate for about 30 minutes while I shoveled snow INTO my driveway.  Yup, gotta love that you spend all Fall and Winter shoveling snow OUT of your driveway, just to throw it back in during the Spring.  [It's all melted now!!! Yay!!!!]


Cut up your tofu into little cubes.
 I used a spoonful of pesto and a little bit of olive oil to coat the tofu.
Then picked up the [hard as a rock] heel of bread that Kevin made a few days earlier.  It was delicious when we had it, but then sat out not super well covered, so it got pretty hard.  Instead of using my canned breadcrumbs, I opted to crush this sucker down into breadcrumbs.  Waste not, want not, right?

Combine the breadcrumbs and some grated parm in a bowl to dip your pesto covered tofu cubes into.  Coat on all sides.

Place on a cooking sheet and roast for 30 minutes @ 450*F.  I suppose I should have turned them half way through, but that seemed like quite a hassle since they are so small, so I just didn't.

In the meanwhile...  Roast up the cloves of garlic (I just did mine stove top with some olive oil)
 Get your pasta going (I used whatever I had left - I believe it was a combination of Wacky Mac and quinoa noodles)

 Chop up your veggies that you want to put in with the pasta.

 Cook the noodles to al dente.


While you're waiting, may I recommend playing catch the noodle with your pup?
Missed it!

Allllllllllmost!

Got it!!!
 Saute your zucchini in a bit of olive oil.

I decided to roast my tomatoes before putting them in the pan with the zucchini and garlic.  I just hate mushy tomatoes, and this helped them hold up a bit more.
 Mix your pasta in with the zucchini, garlic, and tomatoes.  A bit of ground black pepper is a nice addition.  :o)

I put the roasted tofu on top of the pasta, then sprinkled (surprise surprise) some goat cheese on top.
YUM!  Had it for left overs 3 times.  Easy, cheap, and delicious.  :o)

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