Oven-Baked Vegan Spaghetti Cups

 

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A post shared by Haggai Leffler - Vegan Athlete (@haggai_leffler) on Aug 29, 2019 at 3:46am PDT

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When I was, a long time ago, an endurance athlete (long-distance running), I used to eat a large, rich plate of spaghetti the evening before a race.

The reason for this lies in the amount of carbohydrates present in spaghetti, which are necessary for continuous and long aerobic activity.

I won't bore you with too many details, but I'll keep it brief: the starch in pasta is converted in the body into glycogen (a type of polysaccharide stored in the body – mainly in the muscles and a bit in the kidneys) and waits for the moment when we need available energy.

During a marathon, it is quickly released into the muscles and provides the energy required for the run.

In many races, it's customary to organize a massive pasta party the night before the event, and I can tell you that the pasta at these parties (no matter which race) was always the most delicious in the world. I think the reason for that was a kind of release of tension after a hard and long period of Sisyphean training, as well as the great excitement leading up to zero hour – the race itself.

I always struggled to accurately measure the amount of pasta I was eating. Somehow, large quantities of pasta, especially spaghetti, would "leak" onto the plate directly from the pot, causing me to break the caloric balance I wanted to maintain before the race.

Therefore, I found an easy and nice method to control the amount of spaghetti that also, along the way, creates a festive and appetizing appearance – vegan spaghetti cups.

A Bit About Vegan Spaghetti Cups

The recipe consists of cooked spaghetti, baked in a muffin tin after being mixed with a creamy, protein-rich sauce.

I used Harduf organic tricolor spaghetti (full disclosure: they also participated in preparing this recipe), but you can replace it with any other pasta you like: spaghetti, penne, fusilli, or even Israeli couscous (ptitim). Go wild.

For the sauce, I used silken tofu and seasoned it with nutritional yeast and garlic. You can add cooked or raw beets, carrots, pumpkin, fresh or roasted tomatoes, or any other vegetable you love to the sauce—it will turn out wonderful.

You can replace the sauce I suggest with tomato sauce or a cashew-based cream sauce, or any pasta sauce you enjoy.

Here is an old post of mine with 3 pasta sauces – you might love them.

Nutritional yeast gives a deep, cheesy flavor to the sauce—it can be replaced with the same amount of white miso.

Nutritional Values by Clinical Dietition and Fitness Coach Noam Bechar:

One vegan pasta cup out of 10, weighing 60g, contains:

• 88 kcal
• 5g protein
• 10g carbohydrates
• 3g fat

Print

Vegan Pasta Cups

In a creamy and indulgent sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 10 cups

Ingredients

• 140 g Harduf Organic Tricolor Pasta, dry Weight after cooking and draining is approx. 300g
• 100 g Silken tofu
• 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast flakes 50g
• 1 Garlic clove
• 5 tsp Olive oil 25 ml

Instructions

1. Fill a pot with water, add a tablespoon of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Add the Harduf Tricolor Spaghetti and cook until softened.

   

3. Drain the spaghetti, drizzle with a little olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.

4. Preheat the oven to a medium heat of 180°C.

Prepare the sauce

1. In a blender, blend the silken tofu, nutritional yeast flakes, garlic, and olive oil until smooth.

2. Taste and add salt if necessary.

3. Transfer the sauce to a deep bowl, add the spaghetti, and mix well until all the spaghetti is coated in the sauce.

   

4. Twirl a fork to gather a bite-sized amount of pasta (be patient, don't eat it yet!).

5. Transfer to the muffin tin.

6. Repeat the process until all the pasta is used.

7. Sprinkle a little more nutritional yeast on top.

8. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden.

9. The pasta cups will only release easily from the tin after they have cooled down. So have patience.