High Protein Vegetarian Pasta With Tempeh Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• Whole wheat pasta

  Dry

  8 oz or 227g

• Zucchini

  Summer squash, includes skin, raw

  2 medium or 392g

• Tempeh

  8 oz or 227g

• Mushrooms

  White, raw

  1 cup, pieces or slices or 70g

• Garlic

  Raw

  4 cloves, minced or 12g

• Cherry tomatoes

  Red, ripe, raw, year round average

  2 cup cherry tomatoes or 298g

• Tomato paste

  Canned, without salt added

  ½ cup or 131g

• Thyme

  Spices, dried

  1 tsp, ground or 1g

• Basil

  Fresh

  4 tbsp, chopped or 11g

• Olive oil

  Salad or cooking

  2 tbsp or 27g

• Salt

  Table

  1 dash or 0.4g

• Pepper

  Spices, black

  1 dash or 0.1g

Directions

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Slice mushrooms and mince garlic. Make zucchini noodles using a spiralizer or vegetable peeler. Set aside.
3. Crumble tempeh into a large bowl using your hands.
4. Heat 2 large pans over medium heat. Add olive oil and minced garlic to both pans, cooking for 1-2 minutes until slightly browned. In one pan, add crumbled tempeh and cook for 3 minutes. In the other pan, add mushrooms and cook until browned and tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, and salt to pan with tempeh. Cook until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
6. When mushrooms are cooked, drain and add to tomato mixture. Continue cooking for a few minutes, adding fresh chopped basil at the end. Adjust seasonings as needed.
7. In the used mushroom pan, lightly saute the zucchini noodles for 1-2 minutes. Add zucchini noodles to drained pasta. Pour sauce over top and stir to combine.