Tirangaa Tofu Pasta- Tri colour Rotini Pasta in Tomato Sauce

Pasta is a staple food in our house. We all love Italian food and consider it as soul food; of course, second only to Andhra food. The twists and spirals of Tri-colour Rotini allow it to embrace both refined and simple sauce. Its a perfect choice for a simple pasta salad, or with light tomato sauce. My kids like pasta but I was not happy about the amount of carbohydrates and cheese that goes into it. So I try to include all their favorite veggies and was thinking about how to get the protein into this meal.

Enter Tofu! My kids like tofu and don't mind if I skip cheese if when I add tofu to the pasta. So, it is vegan. This is also great for school lunch. Kirthana loves to take leftovers for lunch next day.

Preparation time -  30 minutes

Serving - 4

Ingredients

4 cups uncooked Barilla Tri-color Rotini (any pasta can be used)
1 cup Tomato Basil pasta sauce (I used Amy's organic pasta sauce)
2-4 garlic pods minced
1 Red pepper
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups cubed tofu
1/2 cup spinach
1 Tbs dried oregano
1/2 Tsp crushed pepper

3 Tsp Evoo (Extra virgin olive oil)

Procedure

1. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the package.
2. In the mean time heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add oil when hot and add the garlic, tofu cubes and stir fry till the tofu fries and Browns a little.
3. Now add the Red pepper, broccoli, spinach, dried oregano, crushed pepper and stir fry for 5 minutes  
4. Add the cooked pasta and the tomato basil sauce and mix everything together and cover and cook for 3 minutes.

Variations:

• We can exclude the tofu and it still tastes good with some cheese on top.
• We can make this using any kind of pasts it works best with penna, bowtie pasta and rotoni
• Any vegetables of you choice can be used

Enjoy!! My kids love it. I hope you do too..