Veggie-Licious Rigatoni
"Even the most ardent young veggie-haters will gobble up their veggies disguised in this tomatoey sauce. Come to think of it, so will I.... From the Calciyum cookbook."
photo by White Rose Child
- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 15
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 2 1⁄2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons no-added-salt tomato paste
- 2 cups bok choy, including some of the white stem, chopped
- 2 cups broccoli, chopped
- 1 cup chopped green beans (I always use frozen ones)
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1⁄2 lb firm regular tofu, crumbled (I like some larger chunks, but crumble as fine as you like)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 4 -5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons oregano
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste (optional)
- 1 lb rigatoni pasta
directions
- Place the carrots and onion in a steamer basket in a large pot with a small amount of water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and let steam 5 minutes.
- Add the bok choy and beans and let steam 10 minutes more, till well softened (but not mushy!).
- Transfer the vegetables, any remaining steaming water, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to a food processor. Blend till fairly smooth, still slightly chunky. Scrape the mixture into a medium pot. As you bring it to a simmer, add the tofu, parsley, garlic, oregano, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
- Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook your rigatoni in a large pot.
- Pour the sauce into the drained pasta, mix it up and serve!(No need for salad!).
- This also reheats well.
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Reviews
-
I made this as part of Recipe of the Week in the Kid Friendly forum. This pasta is delicious & although I used cubes chicken breast instead of the tofu, I kept the rest of the recipe the same. The whole family enjoyed this - especially the kids - aged 6 years & 16 months! Thanks for posting this great recipe :) -
WOW!!! This was probably one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. I followed the recipe %100 and it tasted like the veggies were hand picked from my very own garden. My 18mo. old boy HONESTLY could not get enough. He was scooping up the sauce by the handful and shoveling it into his mouth. He ate 3 full plates. No Lie!!
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I tagged this in Veg*n Tag. I used 2 cans chopped tomatoes, swiss chard for the bok choy, the full 12 oz pkg of tofu and fresh parsley, basil and oregano. I steamed as directed and pureed everything in the pot with my hand blender. I really wish it turned out more to our liking. Maybe we were wanting it to be more like spaghetti sauce and it was more like veggie sauce? I will mix the leftovers with my homemade spaghetti sauce next time we have pasta, just for the added nutritional value alone(getting the veggies into the kids!) Thanks!
Tweaks
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I made this as part of Recipe of the Week in the Kid Friendly forum. This pasta is delicious & although I used cubes chicken breast instead of the tofu, I kept the rest of the recipe the same. The whole family enjoyed this - especially the kids - aged 6 years & 16 months! Thanks for posting this great recipe :)
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
A teenager who loves to cook- weird or what? But yes, it's one of my passions! To me cooking is like an art form- there's always something new and exciting to try, and there are constantly more ideas running around in my head than I know what to do with.
Now, to update this page- a little task I haven't done in about two years!! Much remains the same as when I joined what seems like "forever ago": I'm a vegan with many passions: music, yoga, volunteer work, healthy/tasty food (the healthy vs. the tasty seem to run in cycles, haha) - and perhaps most of all, I love the written world. My dearest happy moments are when I am reading, writing, and feeling inspired. I'm in my first year studying at Mount Allison university for a B.A., major in English.
However, since this is RecipeZaar, I must note that I'm equally obsessive about food!! Six years have passed since I was twelve and sort-of accidentally converted my family to veganism. Yes, even dad and little bro now greedily dig into their tofu shepherd pie and soy ice cream (well, clearly, one AFTER the other). I'm always on the lookout for foods that will please, and maybe even be healthy for, all of us! Now that I'm in uni and living with my aunt, uncle and cousin in New Brunswick, I still try to help with the cooking a bit. My sweetie cousin, Bilious Pigeon here on Zaar, is a terrific kitchen buddy. We share a penchant for fine coffee. Thankfully, my family here has turned mostly to the vegan side and that makes university life sooo much easier!
My posted recipes, those I haven't invented, might come from Vegnews magazine, another website, one of our awesome vegan cookbooks, or friends- but it's virtually guaranteed that I've modified them at least in some way, and if from a book or show, I always acknowledge the original source. After all, I'd want someone to do the same for me.
Since returning to the public education system after eight years of homeschooling, I don't have quite as much time in the kitchen as I used to. But I don't let that stifle my creativity! One of my favorite activities is in the summer when I get together with another cousin ~Harriet~, who's also here on Zaar, and we cook as much as we want. Good times!
One more thing about me. I'm a Zaar game addict. And proud of it, and I'd advise anyone to join who would like more reviews on their own recipes, not to mention spending time with fun people and trying recipes they might not find otherwise. Please Zmail me with any questions or just to chat.
Hope you enjoy, and are inspired by, my ideas!
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