Last week, it rained and rained and rained. It was grey and gross and completely terrible. It rained so much that my poor roof couldn’t take it anymore; I woke up one morning to find a big chunk of my ceiling on the floor. It was literally raining in my kitchen. Awesome.

Comfort food was totally a necessity. And what says comfort more than pot pie stuffed full of rich, spicy curry?

If you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, the curry filling is delicious over rice. I made it extra thick, so it would hold up when I sliced into my pie, and it’s heavily spiced but not spicy.  Baked inside of a buttery pie crust, it’s absolutely delicious. Rich, cozy, and perfect for the fifth consecutive day of rain.

It’s full of pantry staples, so I didn’t even have to go out in the rain to buy ingredients. Score!

The filling is really simple. It’s basically onion, potato, carrots, peas, and just about every spice under the sun. Instead of chicken, I used tofu and I loved the way it came out!

It was my first time using Mori-Nu tofu, and I really liked it. It’s made inside an airtight, shelf stable package so it doesn’t require refrigeration (it’s the tofu I mentioned recently when I did my pantry makeover). It keeps for a year, so it’s definitely handy to have around! Since it’s never pressed or drained, it’s technically all silken tofu – even though it comes in different varieties. I used the organic firm tofu, and the texture was amazing! It’s custardy and not spongey at all. It reminded me a lot of the texture of fresh mozzarella. It also did a great job at soaking up the flavors in the curry sauce.

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Tofu Curry Pot Pie

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• cloves garlic minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon madras curry powder
• 1 tablespoon double-concentrated tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 ½ cups water
• ½ lemon juiced
• 2 potatoes chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 package Mori-Nu Firm Organic Tofu
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ¼ cup cilantro chopped
• 1 double pie crust unbaked
• 1 egg beaten

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in deep saute pan. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in the spices and cook 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and flour; cook 1 minute. Add the water, lemon juice, potatoes, and carrots; bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and the liquid thickens (you should have about 4 cups of curry). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in tofu, peas and cilantro.
• Heat oven to 420ºF.
• Roll out the pie crust. Place the bottom crust in a pie pan. Fill with curry and cover with the top crust; crimp the edges. Brush the top pie crust with egg. Cut several slits in the top crust for ventilation.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mori-nu. The opinions and text are all mine.

It’s no secret that I love fennel, but I’ve been absolutely obsessed with the thought of making caramelized fennel ever since I first read about it over on The Tipsy Baker’s blog months ago. I requested a copy of Ad Hoc at Home from the library and patiently waited for what seemed like forever to get the recipe. And then I had no idea what to make with it. I mean, I’m not exactly a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I don’t do side dishes. And as presented in the book, caramelized fennel was most definitely a side dish. But then I had an idea: pasta. When I’m short on recipe inspiration I always turn to pasta, throwing in a combination of whatever looks good at the grocery store and whatever I have in the fridge. Caramelized fennel seemed like it would be a great jumping-off point for a summery vegetable pasta. And it was.

In addition to the fennel, I used a combination of eggplant, summer squash, red onions, and peas. I tasted the vegetables on their own and they were so delicate and fresh that it seemed like a shame to cove them up with a heavy sauce so I decided not to, and instead dressed the pasta with a little bit of ricotta and a touch of pesto (I had originally planned to use garlic and olive oil). It was perfect! I really liked the creaminess that the ricotta added — when you stir it into the hot pasta it melts and creates a light coating that reminds me a little of mac and cheese. The pesto perked the dish up without taking it over; you could tell it was there, but it certainly isn’t a “pesto” dish by any means. Really it’s just… good. Good when you first make it. Good the next day. Good hot. Good cold. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this one!

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Orichette with Caramelized Fennel and Summer Vegetables
The trick to this dish is getting the pasta and vegetables in balance — you should have roughly the same volume of vegetables as cooked pasta. You’ll also want to cut the vegetables into pieces that are roughly the same size as the individual pieces of pasta.

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• 8 oz dry orichette (or other small pasta such as mini shells)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 bulb fennel, chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 summer squash, chopped
• 1/2 small eggplant (about the same size as the squash), chopped
• 1 generous pinch crushed red pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh peas
• 1/4 cup reduced fat ricotta
• 2 Tbs prepared pesto sauce
• 2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add fennel in one layer and cook without stirring for 5 minutes — if it starts sizzling and making lots of noise, you’re doing it right. Give it a good stir and coo another 3 minutes — it will have caramelized and turned light golden brown. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 3 minutes to allow it to begin to soften. Sir in the squash, eggplant, and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the squash is cooked through.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the peas. Cook for 5 minutes, or until they turn bright green and are no longer crunchy.

Return the pasta to the large pot. Add the ricotta and pesto and stir vigorously to combine and break up the ricotta — it should form a thin coat on the pasta. Stir in the fennel and squash mixture, peas, and parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serves 4. Approx. 362 calories, 12 grams fat, 4 grams fiber, 12 grams protein

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Have leftover fennel, squash, and eggplant? The same vegetable mixture is also great in mini-frittatas! Just prepare as described above, then combine with 4 beaten eggs, 1/4 cup skim milk, 1 tsp pesto and 2 ounces grated gruyere. Spoon the mixture into a mini muffin tin and bake at 375 for 10 minutes. You’ll get 20 mini frittatas. I recently brought these to a potluck brunch with some other local food bloggers and they were fabulous! Healthy, delicious and super easy to make.

Here are a few photos from the brunch: