Miso Marinated Tofu with My Pasta’s Last Stand – Vegan & Gluten Free
Whenever I need to get supper on and I haven’t thought about what we’re going to eat, I inevitably turn to my Pasta’s Last Stand. It’s always delicious, I don’t need any special ingredients, but best of all, I don’t have to think about it. Normally I’d scatter a bit of cheese over the top, but as it’s Veganuary this month, I thought I’d ring the changes and scatter some miso marinated tofu over it instead.
Veganuary
As regular readers will know, I’m not a vegan. However I do cook and eat a lot of vegan food. During Veganuary, I try to eat a bit more than normal – it seems a good thing to do after all the chocolate and rich eating at Christmas. Veganuary is a charity that aims to inspire people to eat only plant-based foods for the month of January. For many it’s the start of a vegan journey.
Miso Marinated Tofu
Oh my. I could eat a plateful of this miso marinated tofu every day. It’s absolutely scrumptious. Long gone are the days when I thought tofu was just too boring for words. It’s true, if given a choice, I’d take tempeh, but tofu is just brilliant for marinading and soaking up those flavours. In this case you can marinade it whilst preparing Pasta’s Last Stand, though an even longer soak would be better.
You wouldn’t think the Asian flavours of the miso marinated tofu would go so well with an Italian style pasta, but they really do. It was such a success, CT has declared himself keen on having the tofu as a topping instead of cheese from now on in. I’m not sure that’s going to happen, but it’s a great way to jazz up my Pasta’s Last Stand.
Pasta’s Last Stand
This is a great standby. I nearly always have tins of tomatoes to hand along with fresh onions & garlic. A raid on the rack normally yields some other vegetables. I just use what I’ve got. If I don’t have any fresh veg, then frozen will do nicely. Courgettes, broccoli stems, celery, carrots, parsnips, squash, sweetcorn and peas all work well. This time I went with celery, carrots & red pepper as that’s what I had to hand.
This time the pasta I used was Suma’s fusilli brown rice pasta. We were impressed. It was hard to tell the difference between that and standard wheat pasta. The fusilli were slightly smaller, tighter and springier, which we really liked. It’s also gluten free. You should be able to find the pasta in most independent whole food stores. Suma is a wholesale cooperative selling vegetarian wholefoods, though you can order direct. They have their own line on most products and the quality is high. My latest Suma order also included some tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, barley miso and tofu – all organic of course.
Miso Marinated Tofu & Pasta’s Last Stand – The Recipe
- 2 large spring onions - sliced
- 2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
- thumb sized piece of ginger - finely chopped
- 2 heaped tsp barley miso
- juice of ½ orange
- 450 g tofu - cut into 2cm squares
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion - finely chopped
- 2 large carrots - diced
- 2 sticks of celery - diced
- 1 large red pepper - diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp dried Italian herbs or a few sprigs of fresh herbs thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram, parsley
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp tamari
- 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce optional, but recommended
- 320 g fusilli rice pasta or pasta of your choice
- Place all of the marinated tofu ingredients except the tofu and olive oil into a bowl and mix everything together. Add the tofu pieces and stir gently until everything is covered. Marinade overnight of possible, but at least ½ an hour. Stir occasionally so that the tofu can absorb as much as the marinade as possible.
- Five minutes before the pasta is ready to be served, fry the tofu pieces in the olive oil over a medium heat until they are nicely burnished.
- Fry the onions, celery, carrots, pepper and garlic in a large pan over a moderate heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the water and clamp a lid on the pan so that the vegetables can soften. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Add all the remaining ingredients except the pasta. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or longer if you prefer. The longer the sauce simmers, the better it is.
- Meanwhile cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
- Serve the pasta in large bowls. Ladle on some sauce, then scatter over some miso marinated tofu.
Any leftover marinade can be added to the pasta sauce.
Link-ups
Link-upsThis miso marinaded tofu with Pasta’s Last Stand is my twelfth recipe for the Suma Blogger’s Network.
I’m sharing this with Cook Once Eat Twice over at Searching for Spice. I always make enough Pasta’s Last Stand for two nights, so all I have to do the next day is cook some pasta.
Also sharing with Everyday Healthy Recipes for #CookBlogShare.
And finally my miso marinated tofu and Pasta’s Last Stand go to Le Coin de Miel for #FreeFromFridays.
Other easy vegan meals you might like to help you through Veganuary.
- Asparagus risotto with peas and wild garlic pesto via Tin and Thyme
- Bangors & borlotti beans via The Veg Space
- Beetroot & lentil vegan pie via Only Crumbs Remain
- Carrot falafel with tahini sauce via Tin and Thyme
- Nut roast via Fab Food 4 All
- Pulled jackfruit in barbecue sauce via Tin and Thyme
- Roasted squash, kale and grapefruit salad via The Peachicks Bakery
- Simple laksa noodle soup with tofu, red peppers and green cabbage via Tin and Thyme
- Spicy split moong dhal via Joshi Cooks
- Sudanese sweet potato, spinach and peanut stew via Sneaky Veg
- Vegan egg fried rice via Thinly Spread
Miso Marinated Tofu and Gluten-Free Pasta. PIN IT.
Some of the ingredients for this recipe were provided by Suma. I was not expected to write a positive review and all opinions are, as always, my own. Thanks to my readers for supporting the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blythe and blogging.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
7th January 2018 at 3:49 pmI too could eat those miso tofu daily! So yummy!
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 10:05 amThanks Angie. The miso really is delicious, but then I love cheese too 😀
Mandy
7th January 2018 at 8:30 pmThis sounds amazing. I would never have thought to pair miso with a tomato sauce as you’ve done here but I can see how it would work. Thanks for linking to my peanut stew x
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 10:04 amThanks Mandy. It’s a totally scrummy combination, though it does take a bit more effort than grating some cheese.
Monika Dabrowski
7th January 2018 at 10:44 pmSuch a creative idea to combine a bit of Italian with a bit of Japanese and make a fusion pasta dish! I really like the marinade for the tofu. Thank you for bringing your delicious dish to #CookBlogShare:)
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 10:03 amThanks Monika. Sometimes mixing things up just seems the right thing to do.
Camilla Hawkins
7th January 2018 at 10:48 pmThis dish sounds fabulous with all those lovely flavours in there. I’ve never marinated tofu before so need to try this-)
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 10:00 amMarinating tofu makes it into something quite delicious Camilla. Do give it a try.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
8th January 2018 at 11:42 amThat sounds like a great well-rounded weeknight dish!
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 2:12 pmThanks Rebecca. It’s the perfect filling meal which can be made when inspiration has failed.
Nico @ yumsome
8th January 2018 at 12:16 pmTBH, I’d be more than happy just to eat your miso tofu on its own – it looks and sounds so scrummy! The pasta sounds good too; I’ve never tried rice pasta before but I’ve had corn, and that’s quite good.
Will be sharing this on social media! xx
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 2:13 pmThanks Nico. TBH, I had to try really hard not to eat the miso tofu all on it’s own 😉
I’ve had corn pasta too and you’re right, it’s not bad. But this pasta was much more like the real thing.
Corina Blum
8th January 2018 at 2:29 pmThis sounds like such a tasty dish! I really should try cooking with tofu again. Like you, I used to think it was really boring but I have made a few tasty dishes with it and I always love recipes that involve a marinade! Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 8:31 pmI don’t cook with it often enough either – but I’m getting better 😀
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
8th January 2018 at 3:33 pmI’m just the same Chocolette – if I’ve not had time to prep anything we will often have pasta with a tomato sauce and like you scatter some cheese over the top. We’ve never tried it topped with tofu marinated in miso but we’ll definitely be giving it a try. Thanks for the inspiration and also for linking to my Beetroot & lentil pie 🙂
Angela x
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 8:32 pmMy pleasure Angela. Pasta is such a great standby dish. We all need something simple to cook from time to time – quite often in my case 😉
Nicole
8th January 2018 at 7:00 pmPasta is always a great go-to meal. Loving the flavors in this one! It’s making my mouth water.
Choclette
8th January 2018 at 8:33 pmYes, I think we’d be lost without pasta. It’s just so easy and so comforting.
Kate | The Veg Space
8th January 2018 at 8:59 pmThat looks delish – love the sound of Miso marinated Tofu. I’m loving all the alternative pastas coming onto the market at the moment – I tried some red lentil pasta the other day which was lovely, and rice flour pasta sounds really good too, and probably kinder on your gut than wheat. Lovely!
Choclette
9th January 2018 at 3:11 pmThanks Kate. I haven’t tried red lentil pasta yet, but I’ve seen it and I’m keen to try.
helen @ family-friends-food.com
9th January 2018 at 10:54 amThat looks lovely – and I love the name! I have some miso lingering in the fridge so I’ll have to give this a whirl 🙂
Choclette
9th January 2018 at 3:14 pmLet me know what you think if you do try it Helen.
Chris @thinlyspread
9th January 2018 at 3:55 pmOh my, that looks good! I’m pretty sure both miso and tofu are addictive, I can’t get enough of them!
Choclette
9th January 2018 at 4:52 pmHaha, there are definitely worse things to get addicted to.
Dannii
9th January 2018 at 5:05 pmOne of my goals this year is to eat more tofu and find new ways to enjoy this. I can’t wait to try it – so simple too.
Choclette
9th January 2018 at 7:23 pmTofu is rarely on my radar either, but it ought to be more so.
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs
9th January 2018 at 5:24 pmI’m always surprised at how many dishes my OH and I eat that are actually vegan as opposed to vegetarian. I would have thought that pasta would have been my downfall – it usually being made with eggs and all – but maybe going vegan wouldn’t be so hard! This looks delicious 🙂
Choclette
9th January 2018 at 7:26 pmI don’t think many of the dried pastas are made with eggs these days, though it’s always worth looking at the ingredients.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
11th January 2018 at 9:16 pmPasta is definitely my go to meal! I love the idea of the miso and tofu, in fact I found a jar of miso in the cupboard! Delicious! x #CookOnceEatTwice
Choclette
14th January 2018 at 5:34 pmIt’s always useful to have a jar of miso in the cupboard I find 😀