Pasta Bolonaise

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I love it when I can fool a meat-eater into eating the one thing most people claim to hate.  Tofu!

Even when I first went plant-based, I couldn’t ever imagine eating tofu.  It was a texture thing. And the fact that I could see.   Tofu just seemed….icky.

It was always the ugly stepsister at the table when we went out to eat with my SIL, who is the only person I’ve ever known to order it.   There was practically a stampede to get to the other side of the table and put as much distance between us and the tofu as was humanly possible.  If we’d been on a boat, it definitely would have capsized, and I’m pretty sure that almost everyone would have chosen drowning over siding with the tofu.

But now that I am a reformed tofu-hater, I have become diabolical in slipping it into all kinds of recipes.  And my husband is the hardest to trick. Kinda like the dog with a pill.

My baby can sense a pill a mile off.  She has been known to suck the pill pocket off the pill and shoot the offending pill out like she is launching a missile.  We have found soggy, but still intact pills under the couch, in her bed, in our bed, and some have even disappeared completely, never to be seen again.  She is the Houdini of pilling.

And if she suspects that I have ground up her medicine and tried to pull a fast one by slipping it into something otherwise yummy?  She looks at me like I am the evil queen offering a poison apple to sweet little Snow White.  She is one tough broad.

Fortunately, her father is not quick as quick on the uptake, or as suspicious, and I have been able to lull him into a false sense of security and ingest some of the poison apple…er, I mean yummy tofu.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15.5 oz.) package of extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup Onion Garlic sauce
• 1 (18.3 oz) jar crushed tomatoes
• 1 ( 18.3 oz) jar diced tomatoes
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 ( 3 oz) cans tomato paste, or 1 tube of paste
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 Tablespoon oregano
• 1 Tablespoon sweet basil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Drain and press the tofu (half an hour should do it).  Crumble the tofu into a container with a lid, pour the marinade over it, seal it and refrigerate for at least an hour.
2. Heat a pot over medium medium/high heat.  Put the tofu, onions and peppers in and saute till tofu starts to brown a bit and onions and pepper have softened a bit. (There should be enough oil in the marinade to cook everything, so that you don’t need to add any more to the pot).
3. Add the oregano, Italian seasoning and basil and saute 30 seconds – 1 minute till fragrant.
4. Add the tomatoes, sauce and paste and stir well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cook over low heat until the sauce is hot.  You can cook, covered, for an hour or even more to have the flavors blend even better.

Enjoy!