Rotini & Basil

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 -6 garlic cloves, minced (to your taste)
• 450 g regular extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
• 1 (28 ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes or 6 chopped tomatoes
• 1 -2 tablespoon red vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1/2-1 cup low-sodium v8 juice
• 1 (454 g) box rotini pasta (any small pasta) or 1 (454 g) box penne (any small pasta)

Recipe

• 1 note: you can use any type of pasta shapes for this. penne is really good because the tomato broth goes inside the tubes, yum :-) i also like to do a mix of whole-wheat and white pasta.
• 2 in a medium pot or frying pan, soften the onion and garlic in water (or use oil if you want).
• 3 add can of tomatoes, including their juice. use a potato masher to smash the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces. add the tofu cubes, vinegar, basil and salt if desired. bring to a simmer and partially cover the pot.
• 4 if you have a little extra time, let this simmer for 15-20 minutes. remove from the heat and cover, to let the flavors deepen; then boil the pasta water. if in more of a rush, just start the pasta immediately.
• 5 cook the pasta in a large pot while the tomato part simmers. when the pasta's done (just a bit past al dente), drain and return to the pot.
• 6 pour the tomato mixture into the pasta, stir and add the v8 if it needs to be juicier. ready to serve.
• 7 you may enjoy eating your salad with dressing right on top of the noodles (odd, but yummy!).