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Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, until the top of the ziti is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

MAC DADDY

SERVES 8 TO 10

TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

Here he is, the ultimate in comfort food: our version of Mac and Cheese. We use mashed tofu to give this dish body and douse it in Cheezy Sauce (page 214) for creaminess. Serve with a very simple salad of baby greens with grapeseed oil and red wine vinegar. This is the perfect thing to use up all your vegetable odds and ends, so see our variations. Any vegan potluck would be incomplete without Mac Daddy, but since omnivores tend to be sketchy about nutritional yeast, save this for appreciative vegans and vegetarians.

Double recipe Cheezy Sauce (page 214)

¾ pound elbow macaroni

1 pound extra-firm tofu

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

➣This dish freezes well. Store leftovers in a covered plastic container and freeze. When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 350°F, transfer the leftovers to a baking pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for about 30 minutes.

BRING A large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to the package directions, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your Cheezy Sauce.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. When the pasta is ready, drain and set aside. When sauce is ready, begin assembling.

To assemble:

Crumble the tofu into an 11 × 13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Mash the tofu with your hands until it resembles ricotta cheese. Add the salt, olive oil, and lemon juice, then stir.

Add ½ cup Cheezy Sauce to the tofu and stir. Use a dry measuring cup with a handle so that you can just dip it in to the sauce and pour—you don’t need to be very precise. Add the macaroni to the tofu, along with 3 more cups of sauce, and stir well.

Smooth the top of the pasta mixture and press it down with a spatula to level it. Then pour the remaining sauce over the pasta and smooth again.

Bake for 30 minutes; the top of the macaroni should be slightly browned. It’s a good idea to wait about 20 minutes before serving, so that it can cool down and firm up a bit, but if you can’t wait, more power to you.

Variations: Mac and Peas: Add 2 cups of frozen peas when you add the macaroni to the casserole.

Broc Mac Daddy: Add 3 cups of small broccoli florets when you add the macaroni.

Autumn Mac Daddy: Add 3 cups of roasted or boiled butternut squash when you add the macaroni. Omit the thyme from the nutritional yeasty sauce and add 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

Spicy Mac Daddy: Add ¾ teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the nutritional yeasty sauce when you add the black pepper.

Mac and Greens: Add 4 cups of finely chopped kale, spinach, or chard when you add the macaroni.

Mac and Chicks: Instead of tofu, use 2 cups of mashed chickpeas.

LASAGNE MARINARA WITH SPINACH

SERVES 6 TO 8

(Tofu Ricotta variation)

TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

Lasagne is a great way to showcase how delicious vegan cooking can be. Our version brings together a variety of recipes in this book to create everyone’s favorite baked pasta dish. It’s endlessly versatile, depending on what flavor you feel like making the Marinara Sauce (page 205), what fresh vegetables are found at the market that day, which Tofu Ricotta (page 206) is used, and whether the luscious Pine Nut Cream (page 164) is featured on top. Lasagne can be served alone or with a hearty sprinkling of Almesan (page 207), breadsticks, and a crisp green salad.

If you have a favorite way of assembling lasagne, then go right ahead and use that instead of our method. We’ve included directions for the traditional boiled noodle and the “controversial” no-cook pasta method. Both methods work great here.

Double recipe Marinara Sauce (page 205), plain or any variation (roasted garlic is particularly good here)

Double recipe Tofu Ricotta or Cashew Ricotta (page 206)

1-pound package lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions or left uncooked