Creamy silken tofu pasta with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes
25 min · 35 g protein · 425 cals / serving
A blender sauce that tastes like a cream sauce: silken tofu, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, nutritional yeast and a little lemon, blitzed smooth and tossed with red lentil penne, wilted spinach and plenty of sweet edamame. Twenty-five minutes, one pot and a blender.
Ingredients
- 1 box (8.8 oz) red lentil penne (dry weight) red lentil pasta
- 1 2/3 cups shelled edamame, frozen
Sauce
- 1 package (14 oz) silken tofu soft tofu
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, dry-packed, soaked 5 minutes in hot water
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup water, pasta cooking water
- 1 bag (9 oz) baby spinach
To serve
- a handful fresh basil, torn
Steps
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet, adding the edamame for the last 3 minutes. Scoop out a mug of the cooking water before draining.
- While it cooks, blend the silken tofu, drained sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, chili flakes and pepper until completely smooth.
- Put the empty pot back on low heat, add the spinach with a splash of the pasta water and stir until it wilts, about a minute. Add the pasta, edamame and the sauce and toss gently over low heat for 1–2 minutes, adding pasta water a little at a time until the sauce is glossy and coats the pasta. Do not let it boil.
- Taste for salt and lemon and serve with torn basil.
Good to know
Does it taste of tofu?
Not once it is blended with the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and nutritional yeast. Silken tofu is the key: firm tofu does not blend as smoothly and tastes more of itself.
Can I use regular pasta?
Yes, 9 oz dry penne. It is a little lighter on protein and scores about 57 instead of 62.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 101
- Protein
- (33%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (47%)
- 14 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 93 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1700 kcal goes into the pot and 1711 g of ingredients comes out as about 1680 g of food: 101 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.