This Gluten-free Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta is also vegan, made with cashews, roasted red bell pepper, red onions, garlic and almond milk. And it’s topped with crispy and super flavorful tofu.
This post is sponsored by Barilla Canada, but as always the opinions and text are all mine.
If you don’t know, October 25 is the World Pasta Day and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this loved ingredient making, of course, a delicious pasta dish, right?
In my family we eat a good pasta dish at least once a week like my One-Pan Shrimp Spaghetti, Sausage Quinoa Pasta, Quick Easy Tuna Pasta, Easy Asparagus Pasta Salad, and Leftover Shredded Roast Beef Pasta. We love pasta and I’m going to explain why.
First, my husband’s family is Canadian-Italian. Even though they all grew up in Montreal, his grandparents kept the Italian roots in the family, teaching the language and how to cook all things Italian. And myself on the other hand grew up in Brazil, where there is a huge number of Italian immigrants and for this reason we Brazilians love pasta too. You didn’t know that? Oh yes, it’s true!
Between 1870 and 1920, millions of Italian immigrants went to Brazil to work on coffee plantations. Most of them never went back to Italy. They stayed and raised their families in Brazil and because of this, the Italian food (especially pasta such as spaghetti and lasagne) became very popular down there. Of course, Brazilians love eating beans, rice, Feijoada (it’s a type of beef stew with beans) and Churrasco (Brazilian BBQ). But, they never say “no” to a good bowl of pasta. In my family, we always had spaghetti with tomato sauce every Sunday for lunch. I remember I used to count down the days until I got to eat my mom’s spaghetti. Mm… So good!
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I grew up, immigrated to Canada and here I am married to a French-Canadian man, who has Italian roots and loves pasta as much as me. Excellent combination, don’t you think? So, I better make pasta for my family at least once a week as I said before. But, since we decided to eat healthier four years ago I’m very careful when buying my pasta, because I need it to be the best quality pasta we can eat. That’s why I always choose Barilla pasta to cook, especially now that they have a gluten-free pasta too. Amazing!
I was very excited to try this new Barilla Gluten Free pasta to see the texture. The result? I loved it. I didn’t even think that it was gluten-free pasta AT ALL. It’s made with a blend of corn and rice flour. It’s so simple, delicious, high-quality pasta that cooks al dente every time. SO GOOD! It is definitely a healthy meal choice that can be part of a balanced diet when made with fresh, in season ingredients.
The pasta dishes that I prepare are always made “my way”, which means adding veggies to my pasta dish. And I think that pasta provides a base to incorporate more vegetables, legumes and other healthy foods into my meals just like this Gluten-free Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta. I made this recipe last Sunday for my family and they all loved it. Even my toddler ate two bowls. Barilla Gluten Free pasta was the base for this recipe and I topped it with this vegan and super delicious roasted bell pepper sauce. This sauce was made with healthy ingredients such as garlic, red onions, nutritional yeast, almond milk and it has this creamy texture because of the raw cashews I added in there.
It was insanely good. This was the perfect pasta dish with lots of good ingredients for my son and us. He didn’t even think he was eating bell peppers! And this is what is fun about this dish. You eat healthy without knowing. I think a good pasta dish is the one that can be adapted to suit your tastes and what you and your family need in terms of nutrition. And that is exactly what I did with this recipe.
This Gluten-free Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta recipe is absolutely amazing, but let’s not forget to talk about the tofu too. It’s hard to get tofu this crispy, right? But when you extract the water as much as possible from it and sauté over high hit with very hot oil, you can make it very crispy for sure. It was delicious and a good addition of protein to this dish.
So, Barilla and I want you to welcome your friends and family around the table and create this delicious Gluten-free Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta recipe that everyone will devour! I’m really sure you all will enjoy it. And if you can’t wait to try the new Barilla Gluten Free pasta and their other products, please, visit Barilla.ca for more recipes, inspiration and information.
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Gluten-free Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 red bell peppers roughly chopped
- ¼ cup red onions chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ package of Barilla Gluten Free Elbows Pasta
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Red pepper flakes to taste
- 12 oz. extra firm tofu
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 °F.
- On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, mix the red bell peppers, onions, garlic and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then spread evenly.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the Barilla Gluten Free Elbows Pasta according to the instructions on the package. Set aside.
- In a blender or food processor, add the veggies from the oven, raw cashews, milk, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Blender everything until smooth. If you think the texture is too thick you can add more milk according to your taste. Set aside.
- Using a paper towel or a clean towel, press the excess moisture out of the tofu.
- Cut into small square pieces.
- In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add the tofu and stir fry until golden brown. It’s about 5-8 minutes. Set aside.
- In the same skillet you cooked the tofu, add the sauce to warm up a little. Then add the cooked pasta and stir well.
- Place the pasta on a plate dish and top with the crispy tofu and fresh chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Tips
- Make sure to use raw cashews and not roasted salted cashews.
- Feel free to use any shape pasta you'd like. Penne, shells, and fusilli are great options too.
- If you do not have nutritional yeast, you can use parmesan cheese.
- To store: Keep the pasta in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
- To reheat: You can reheat the leftovers in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- To freeze: You can freeze leftover pasta in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Sues says
This looks fabulous!! I’m all about celebrating pasta day ANY TIME and though I love tofu, I’ve never considered topping pasta with it!