Let's Get Baked

an addicitive pasta experience

Growing up I didn’t eat casseroles or really any dump and bake recipes. I’m just not that flavor of white. But when it comes to pasta, there’s no form I won’t eat. Throw it in the oven, in a soup, or even on the floor and I’m gonna take a bite. Might as well make an easy, lots of leftovers type of dinner with it. Winter is inevitably casseroling season so I have spent the last couple weeks thinking up some easy and affordable casserole recipes for us to warm our homes and bellies. This week’s recipe features every Seinfeld fan’s favorite pasta and some top-secret tofu.

The first time I made this dish with whatever I could find in my house and it turned out so damn good I had to share it. I’ve heard from a few people that they’ve been having trouble locating silken, shelf stable tofu which forms the base of this recipe. Honestly, it’s getting harder to find many ingredients and products with any regularity. My local grocery stores have been weirdly out of white and red onions for weeks now. This is just going to be the new normal. Any silken style of tofu will do but the shelf stable kind results in the best consistency. It has an incredibly long shelf life so I always buy 4-5 boxes when I find it. It’s usually by the soy sauce in the grocery store. 

we're building flavor baby

The sauce for this recipe is made from long-lasting pantry items which means if you keep a well-stocked kitchen, you can probably make this right now. You can add extra veggies into it when you sauté the onions, switch out the artichoke hearts with zucchini or whatever you have. Sure you could just eat it instead of baking it but the texture and flavor of the sauce really improves with some time in the oven. Double the recipe and stick one in the freezer for a lazy night. Just don’t tell anyone there’s tofu in it.

Rosemary Artichoke Baked Pasta

Makes enough for 4-6 people

One pound of pasta like fusilli or cavatelli, cooked according to the package directions

One 12 ounce box silken tofu

One 15 ounce can tomato sauce

5 cloves of garlic

½ cup pasta water

½ cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon all-purpose, salt-free seasoning

1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

One 15 ounce can of water-packed artichoke hearts, chopped

4 cups of spinach

One 15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes

¼ cup nooch

2 teaspoons garlic granules

1/4 cup or more store-bought breadcrumbs

Spray oil

Basil or fresh parsley to top, optional

Warm up your oven to 400 and grease a baking dish no larger than 9 by 13.

Cook the pasta in a large pot according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking, place the tofu, tomato sauce, garlic, pasta water, and nutritional yeast in a blender and run that shit until it’s smooth inside. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, warm the now empty pot back up over a medium heat and throw in the olive oil. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and sauté them until they start to look golden brown in some spots, about 5-8 minutes. Add the rosemary and cook for another minute more. Add the tomato paste and all-purpose seasoning and cook for another minute or two to caramelize the tomato paste. This extra step will deepen the flavor of the final dish. DO NOT skip this shit.

Next, add the Braggs, red pepper flakes, artichoke hearts, spinach, and fire roasted tomatoes. Cook this together just long enough for the spinach to start to wilt and reduce in volume. Add the cooked pasta, sauce from the blender, additional nooch, and garlic granules and turn off the heat. Mix up this pot until everything is coated in the sauce then taste and add more salt or whatever you think it needs. Pour everything from the pot into your prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle the top of the baking dish with the breadcrumbs and then spray them lightly with oil. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes covered, then remove the cover, and bake it for 10 minutes more or until the edges start to look brown and crispy. I like to throw it under the broiler right at the end for a minute or two to crisp up the top even more but that’s up to you. Let it rest for a couple minutes before serving.

Serve warm topped with some chopped fresh basil or parsley for looks.

Rosemary Artichoke Baked Pasta

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Thanks for joining me here for another week in the recipe club. Have you noticed the produce department at your markets thinning out? What groceries are you struggling to find in your neck of the woods?