Creamy miso pasta with tempeh crumb
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
Looking for a quick vegan pasta dish with plenty of plant protein to keep you satisfied? This Asian-Italian mash up is the business... delicious umami flavours in a comforting creamy sauce topped with a crispy tempeh crumb. Make sure you use silken tofu for the sauce, it's less common than firm tofu but still pretty widely available.
For this recipe you will need a food processor or blender.
Each serving provides 402 kcal, 32.2g protein, 41.1g carbohydrate (of which 5.5g sugars), 10.8g fat (of which 2.2g saturates), 4.8g fibre and 1.84g salt.
By Rhian Melvin
Ingredients
For the tempeh crumb
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp tamari or reduced-salt soy sauce
- 1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp MSG (optional)
- 150g/5½oz tempeh, grated
For the miso pasta
- 150g/5½oz dried pasta
- 300g/10½oz silken tofu
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp white miso paste (see recipe tips)
- ½ lemon, juice only
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the tempeh crumb, preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Line a baking tray with baking paper (or use a non-stick tray).
In a large bowl, combine the tomato purée, tamari, agave, paprika, MSG (if using) and 2 tablespoons water. Mix well to make a marinade.
Add the tempeh and toss gently until evenly coated. Spread the mixture out in a single layer on a baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and crisp, stirring regularly to ensure the edges do not burn.
Meanwhile, to make the miso pasta, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions.
Blend the tofu, nutritional yeast, miso, lemon juice and garlic in a blender or food processor until completely smooth.
Pour the miso mixture into a large frying pan and gently warm through over a medium heat.
Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta and a splash of the reserved cooking water to the miso sauce in the pan. Toss until the pasta is evenly coated and season with salt and pepper.
To serve, spoon the miso pasta into two bowls and top with the tempeh crumb.
Recipe tips
Serve with salad or roasted vegetables on the side.
Miso paste is available in many different types (white, red, brown etc). White has the mildest flavour and is the most common (it's actually a creamy light-brown colour). Some supermarkets sell jars labelled as a generic 'miso paste' which will be white miso and suitable for this recipe.
