I don’t have anything against a good tomato sauce over my pasta, but let’s be honest, after a few times, my body craves something new! So after some trial/error, I managed to push the right buttons and came up with an unexpected but mouth-watering combination that will make your pasta days exciting again!
This basil tofu pasta packs so many layers of flavour and is such a nutrient powerhouse that I assure you it will become your number one pasta recipe from the first bite!
Aubergine and tofu are spiced with chilli, cooked with tamari, and together with whole grain pasta wrapped into a creamy, sweet and zesty tahini sauce! The basil at the end adds colour and subtle notes of freshness.
High in protein, fibre, complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fat, it is a great post-workout or just post-work meal, and it takes only 30 minutes of your precious time! Sounds pretty good, right?
For this aubergine tofu pasta, you will need:
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Aubergine
- Tofu: firm or extra firm
- Whole grain pasta
- Tamari: Japanese type of soy sauce with a thicker consistency and less sodium, plus a low wheat content (<10%)
- Tahini: a paste made from sesame seeds
- Garlic
- Lemon juice
- Maple syrup
- Chilli
Shopping tips
When buying tofu…
Tofu is a product made from soybean curds. In the production process, soy milk is heated, after which the resulting curdles are pressed into a recognisable white cake-like shape. I’m using firm tofu for this recipe, but you can alternatively use the extra-firm type. To spice things up, you can also choose fermented, smoked or seasoned tofu, but in this case, I prefer the regular one. Since a significant percentage of soy produced worldwide is GMO, check the label and search for organic or GMO-free tofu.
When buying aubergines…
Look for the ones that are still firm and have glossy skin. That is a sign that they are still young and fresh. Young aubergines won’t be bitter, so no previous salting is needed in that case.
Depending on your location, you can choose whichever type of aubergine you have available. All these varieties will be great options: black beauty, white beauty, Italian, American, Japanese, Chinese, etc. Which one is your favourite?
Which is your favourite aubergine variety?
How to cook aubergine for this recipe?
The most common way of preparing aubergines is roasting them in the oven. As much as it is a convenient preparation method resulting in great tasting aubergines, it requires quite a lot of added fat and is pretty time-consuming. I decided to go with a fast and easy method that allows the aubergine to cook in less than 10 minutes while infusing flavours from the other ingredients of the sauce.
The aubergine dice are first sauteed with onions for a minute or two. Then, tamari and pasta cooking water are added, and everything cooks on the stovetop, on medium-low heat, with the lid on. The aubergine stays juicy and gets extra flavours from onions and tamari. Yummy!
How to cook pasta like a pro?
1) Bring water to a boil (use a ratio of 10:1, water to pasta)
2) Salt the water generously (add salt after the water comes to a boil, if you add it to cold water, you will have to wait longer for it to start boiling)
3) Add your pasta to the boiling water and cook as advised on the packaging
4) Throughout cooking, your water needs to boil, not simmer (simmering will result in mushy pasta that you wouldn’t like, right?)
5) After tasting your pasta, sieve it and reserve the cooking water, but don’t rinse it (the starches will help thicken the sauce, resulting in additional creaminess)
How to make tahini sauce?
Tahini is best known as the key element of the beloved hummus spread, but it is so versatile that its uses know no limits, especially in vegan-friendly recipes. It is a thick paste made from raw or toasted hulled sesame seeds, which are ground and then mixed with a neutral-flavoured oil to obtain a creamier texture. Raw tahini paste will have a lighter colour and a less intense flavour than the one made with toasted seeds. Toasting the sesame seeds results in a nuttier, richer flavour and slightly reduces the bitterness of the paste. This time I’ve used raw tahini, but let your taste preferences decide for you!
Tahini sauce adds garlic, lemon juice and water to this flavourful paste, forming a condiment with a more liquid texture that can be drizzled over salads, roasted veggies, meat, tofu dishes, and so much more.
Tahini sauce requires only a few minutes of your time and is really simple to make.
The order in which you add the ingredients is essential for the best result, and it is as it follows:
1. Garlic
2. Lemon juice
3. Tahini
4. Maple syrup (my addition)
5. Water (added little by little)
The pungency of garlic, and most of its potential health benefits, come from the sulphurous compound called allicin, which forms when a compound alliin comes in contact with a heat-sensitive enzyme alliinase. That happens only when the garlic cells are damaged, through crushing, cutting, slicing or bitting, because they are present in different parts of the garlic clove. So, to get the biggest amount of allicin, you should crush the garlic cloves, chop them finely and wait for a few minutes (up to five) for it to form.
But if you want a milder garlic taste, you can blend whole garlic cloves with lemon juice. The acidity of the lemon will deactivate the enzyme, stopping the reaction from happening.
The most important step in tahini sauce making is the addition of water, which needs to be gradual to prevent the sauce from splitting.
The tahini sauce I’m using is a bit lighter than the classic (meaning more water to tahini). I’ve also added a little bit of maple syrup to balance the sweet and acidic tones in the dish.
