Great for a cold day!
Ingredients
- 1 box ziti
- 1.5 large cans tomato sauce
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 T Italian seasoning
- 1 container extra firm tofu
- 2 T apple cider vinegar
- 4 T nutritional yeast
- 1 cup dried TVP (rehydrated), browned Impossible meat, or other vegan meat substitute if desired.
- Vegan mozzarella
- Salt and pepper
Process
Prepare pasta according to directions, very al dente! Rinse in cold water to stop cooking and set aside.
Drain tofu. Place in a large bowl and mash with fork or potato masher until the consistency of cottage cheese or ricotta. Add vinegar, nutritional yeast, and a little salt and fold in. Set aside.
Saute onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery in olive oil until soft. Add tomato sauce, diced tomato, Italian seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and let simmer 15-20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350. Add ⅓ of the sauce to the bottom of an 8×13 baking dish. Add a layer of ½ of the pasta. Add tofu mix in scoops and then use a spatula to spread across pan. Add ⅓ of the sauce over the tofu mix. Add the second half of the pasta in an even layer. If using meat substitute, add that here in an even layer. Add remaining sauce and vegan mozzarella.
Cover with lid or foil (I like to spray the foil with vegetable spray so it doesn’t stick to the vegan cheese). Bake for 40 minutes or until everything is hot and cheese is somewhat melted (to the extent that the brand you are using will melt).