Tofu Tuesday - Pesto Parm Tofu

Still on the weekly tofu kick.  :o)

So, last Tuesday I had a tomato and two bitty zucchinis that I needed to use up.  So I was thinking some kind of pasta veggie goodness... but how to incorporate tofu?  I had seen something about pesto and tofu, so I just went with it and mixed this and that together until I had dinner.  :o)

There isn't so much a specific recipe, but here's what I used:

For the veggie pasta:

• Roma tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Cloves of garlic
• Spiral pasta 
• Olive Oil

For the pesto parm tofu:

• Extra firm tofu
• Pesto
• Olive Oil
• Grated parmesan
• Breadcrumbs

So first things first.  Get some of that liquid out of your tofu (using either a press or ya know, school psych books.  Whatever works for ya!)   I let this dehydrate for about 30 minutes while I shoveled snow INTO my driveway.  Yup, gotta love that you spend all Fall and Winter shoveling snow OUT of your driveway, just to throw it back in during the Spring.  [It's all melted now!!! Yay!!!!]

Cut up your tofu into little cubes.

 I used a spoonful of pesto and a little bit of olive oil to coat the tofu.

Then picked up the [hard as a rock] heel of bread that Kevin made a few days earlier.  It was delicious when we had it, but then sat out not super well covered, so it got pretty hard.  Instead of using my canned breadcrumbs, I opted to crush this sucker down into breadcrumbs.  Waste not, want not, right?

Combine the breadcrumbs and some grated parm in a bowl to dip your pesto covered tofu cubes into.  Coat on all sides.

Place on a cooking sheet and roast for 30 minutes @ 450*F.  I suppose I should have turned them half way through, but that seemed like quite a hassle since they are so small, so I just didn't.

In the meanwhile...  Roast up the cloves of garlic (I just did mine stove top with some olive oil)

 Get your pasta going (I used whatever I had left - I believe it was a combination of Wacky Mac and quinoa noodles)

 Chop up your veggies that you want to put in with the pasta.

 Cook the noodles to al dente.

While you're waiting, may I recommend playing catch the noodle with your pup?

Missed it!

Allllllllllmost!

Got it!!!

 Saute your zucchini in a bit of olive oil.

I decided to roast my tomatoes before putting them in the pan with the zucchini and garlic.  I just hate mushy tomatoes, and this helped them hold up a bit more.

 Mix your pasta in with the zucchini, garlic, and tomatoes.  A bit of ground black pepper is a nice addition.  :o)

I put the roasted tofu on top of the pasta, then sprinkled (surprise surprise) some goat cheese on top.

YUM!  Had it for left overs 3 times.  Easy, cheap, and delicious.  :o)