Rotini with Creamy Basil Tomato Sauce

Yesterday's jerk tempeh dish was originally going to be made with tofu, but the tofu I had bought was too crumbly for the grill. That meant I had a pack of tofu that needed to be used up soon. I also had two leftover Tofurky sausages from last week that needed to be used up as well. The end result was this dish. The sauce is really simple to make and is nice and creamy with bursts of basil flavour. Fresh basil is best, but use dried if you don't have any.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 cup raw cashews

- 4 cloves of garlic

- plain soy milk

- 1/2 pkg tofu

- 1 jar marinara/pasta sauce

- 2 tsp oil

- 2 vegan Italian sausages, sliced

- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil (or about 2-3 tsp dried)

- salt to taste

- about 400g rotini, cooked

METHOD

1. Start boiling water and cooking your pasta

2. Place cashews and garlic in a blender and pour in enough soy milk to just cover. If you have time, let sit for 5-10 mins to let the nuts soak up some of the soy milk. Blend until smooth.

3. Add tofu and blend again until smooth. Add in more soy milk if too thick. Add in 1/2 jar of pasta sauce and blend again until smooth. Set aside.

4. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry sausage slices until browned. Pour in mixture from blender and remaining 1/2 jar of pasta sauce. Bring to bubbling and simmer while pasta finishes cooking. Add more soy milk if too thick. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt.

5. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Again, add soy milk if too thick. Serve.