High Protein Spinach & Artichoke Pasta

This High Protein Spinach and Artichoke Pasta has the same flavor profile as a classic spinach and artichoke dip! The protein comes from silken tofu, nutritional yeast and red lentil pasta. Because this recipe is so packed with veggies, it’s a very high volume meal for not a ton of calories. I think this is one of the most filling recipes I make, and is a great one if you’re in a calorie deficit.

You could make this a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) recipe by omitting the vegan Parmesan, and it would be just as tasty!

If this has actually just put you in the mood for a creamy spinach and artichoke dip, you should check this one out!

Ingredients

• Extra Firm Silken Tofu – make sure to use silken tofu when making this recipe! Using regular tofu (firm/extra firm/super firm) will not result in a sauce – it will be more like hummus. Silken tofu can be found at most grocery stores; you can even buy a shelf-stable variety online. I like the brand Mori-Nu and typically buy their Extra Firm Silken Tofu, because the macros are excellent. Any silken tofu will work though!
• Artichoke Hearts – I use canned. If you are a real life grown-up that knows how to use a fresh artichoke, you can do that instead!
• Spinach – I like to use fresh baby spinach. You could also use frozen, but if you do that, don’t use 4 cups lol. Maybe like 1/2 cup of frozen spinach.
• Garlic – I like to use fresh garlic, but you can use the store-bought pre-minced to save some time.
• Nutritional Yeast – if you’re newer to plant-based/dairy-free cooking, nutritional yeast is a shelf-stable ingredient often used in dishes to add a cheesy flavor! You can buy it at most stores and also online. There are two types of nutritional yeast – fortified (with B-12) and non-fortified (without added B-12). Either will work for this recipe; your call on which one you prefer! For what it’s worth, they taste about the same!
• Soy Milk – any plant-based milk will work great!
• Vegan Parmesan – I used Follow Your Heart Parm, because it browns really well in the oven.
• Lemon – I like to use fresh lemon juice, but store-bought juice will work too! If you don’t have either, you could use a mild vinegar instead, like apple cider vinegar or white whine vinegar.
• Pasta – I like to use Red Lentil Pasta because it’s an easy way to add protein! If you use a different kind of pasta, note that the calories/macros may change from what’s in the recipe card.
• Salt, garlic powder, onion powder.

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
• Boil water. Cook the pasta per the package instructions.
• Peel and dice the onion.
• Mince the garlic.
• Drain and chop the artichoke hearts.
• Juice the lemon. We’re only using 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice, so you may have some leftover.
• Saute the diced onion for ~ 5 mins until translucent. You should stir regularly to avoid burning or sticking to the pan.
• Add in the minded garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, still stirring often.

• Add the cooked onion and garlic to the blender.
• In the same pan (that’s now empty), add the spinach and cook it down to get rid of the excess liquid. I will also squeeze out additional excess water using a cheese cloth. This helps keep the pasta sauce creamy and not watery.

• In a powerful blender, combine the cooked onion, garlic, spices, milk, nutritional yeast, tofu, lemon juice, and blend until very smooth.
• Add the chopped artichoke hearts and cooked spinach to your blender, and pulse a few times until they’ve been mixed in. You don’t want to blend everything together, because you want some chunks of spinach and artichokes, and blending it all will result in a completely green pasta sauce.
  • If your blender doesn’t have a pulse function, or it’s too small to do this in, you can also just dump everything in one large bowl and mix it together.
• Mix the cooked pasta and sauce/veggie mixture together. I like to drain the water from the pot I use to cook the pasta and add the sauce/veggie mixture directly to that and mix in with the pasta.
• Empty everything into a 13×9” casserole dish.

• Top with vegan parmesan.

• Cook for 25-30 minutes.
  • I recommend broiling at the end for a couple minutes to get the cheese browned!

Silly Little Haiku

This is really good

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Except it’s pasta