The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.
As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Easy Pesto Pasta with Crispy Smoked Tofu
An easy weeknight pasta for when cooking feels like an effort. Just grab a saucepan and add garlicky pesto, cashew cream, veggie stock and brown rice penne. Bubble away with a handful of spinach, broccoli and juicy tomatoes for vitamins. Then top with crispy smoked tofu and pine nuts for crunch.
Prep in 10
6 plants
Low sat fat
Serving size
Ingredients
- 160g baby spinach
- 4 garlic clove
- 2 shallot
- 4 tbsp green pesto (Rapeseed Oil, Broccoli, Spinach, Broad Beans, Basil, Sunflower Seed, Garlic, Salt, Yeast extract powder (Yeast Extract, Salt), Pumpkin Seeds, Porcini Mushrooms, Kale, Golden Linseeds, Citric Acid, White Quinoa, Ascorbic Acid.)
- 225g smoked tofu (Soya) (Water, Soya Beans, Nigari, Sea Salt)
- 110g baby tomatoes
- 20g pine nuts
- 250g brown rice penne (Eggs)
- 1 vegetable stock cube (Celery) (Sea salt, potato starch*, sustainable palm oil*, sugar*, vegetables*(6,8%) [celery*, onion*, carrot*, parsnip*, tomato*], sunflower oil*, yeast extract, caramelised sugar*, herbs* & spices* ( lovage*, turmeric*, parsley*, black pepper*) *Organic ingredients)
- 180g Tenderstem broccoli
- 200ml cashew cream (Nuts) (water, cashew (7%), sunflower oil, stabiliser (arabic gum, xanthan gum), sea salt)
Nutritional Information
Calories: 570
Protein: 21g
Carbs: 55g
Fat: 29g
Easy Pesto Pasta with Crispy Smoked Tofu
An easy weeknight pasta for when cooking feels like an effort. Just grab a saucepan and add garlicky pesto, cashew cream, veggie stock and brown rice penne. Bubble away with a handful of spinach, broccoli and juicy tomatoes for vitamins. Then top with crispy smoked tofu and pine nuts for crunch.
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Cooking Instructions
- Finely slice the shallots and the garlic. Heat a large saucepan with 1 tbsp oil on medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 4-5 mins, until softened. Cut the broccoli into 3-4cm pieces, then add to the pan and cook for 1 min.
- Add the cream, half the pesto, penne and 750ml hot water to the pan. Crumble in the stock cube and stir. Bring to a boil then simmer for 12-14 mins, until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Drain the tofu, pat dry with paper towel and cut into 1cm cubes. Heat another frying pan with 1 tbsp oil on high heat. Add the tofu and cook for 4-5 mins. Add the pine nuts and cook for 3-4 mins, until the tofu and nuts are golden brown. Remove from the heat. Season with sea salt and stir in the remaining pesto.
- Halve the tomatoes. Rinse and roughly chop the spinach. Stir both into the pasta. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Cook for 1-2 mins, until the spinach has wilted.
- Serve the pasta topped with the tofu and nuts.
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