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spicy italian tempeh “sausage” pasta

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  • Author: Lindsay Pleskot
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 3-4 1x
  • Category: Main Dishes
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: Italian

Description

This plant-based version of my mom’s famous Italian sausage penne pasta is made with tempeh for a boost of plant protein. Vegan.


Ingredients

Scale
  • Spicy Tempeh “Sausage”

    • 1 x 200g package of Tempea tempeh
    • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
    • 1 tbsp Italian Spice blend
    • 1 tsp fennel, ground
    • ½ tsp onion powder
    • ½ tsp garlic powder
    • ½ tsp. Chili peppers (flakes), dried (adjust or omit if you don’t like spice)
    • ⅛ tsp pepper
    • ¼ cup soy sauce

    Sauce (or replace for your favorite store bought sauce)

    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 10 plum tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces each (quartered and then halved again)
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • ½ of a medium red onion, roughly chopped
    • 2 cups water
    • Coarse salt and freshly-cracked pepper to taste (approx ⅛ tsp each and increase to taste)
    • ¼ cup fresh basil

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. Combine all tempeh sausage ingredients (except tempeh) into a small bowl. Whisk together with a fork and set aside.
  3. Cut your block of tempeh into 4 strips, lengthwise. Next, on a diagonal, cut each strip into bite sized pieces (like you would slicing up a sausage into oblong coin-like pieces).
  4. Start cooking your pasta, according to package directions. Drain and set aside. If it starts to clump together before you mix with the sauce, run hot water over it to separate the noodles right before mixing with your sauce.
  5. Next, over medium high heat, add your tempeh and sauce to a large frying pan. Cover with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a high simmer and allow all liquid to boil off, approximately 20-30 minutes.
  6. (If you’re using a store bought sauce, skip steps 6 and 7) Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium high heat. Once heated, add your onion and saute for about 2 mintues. Add your garlic and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, until both garlic and onion are translucent and fragrant.
  7. Next add tomatoes to the olive oil  and reduce to a simmer to cook down, approx 10-15 minutes. You want this to cook down into a chunky sauce.
  8. When your sauce is the desired consistency, add the tempeh sausage to the sauce. Finish with the fresh basil and adjust the flavor with any extra salt, pepper or chili flakes if needed.
  9. Finish by tossing the noodles in the sauce, stir to combine well and serve!

Notes

You can freeze this with the pasta or the sauce on its own

I always find it confusing when pasta is listed in grams so I find this method much easier! This will cook up to approx 3 cups cooked pasta so if you’d like bigger servings, increase accordingly!