© 2016 MarcaRelli
Do you know what TVP is? TVP is Textured Vegetable Protein. It’s processed soy crinkle… very inexpensive. You should be able to get it at your local supermarket. The guy on the package says it’s good for you. I don’t know. But for our purposes here in the stew it’s a perfect product – especially if you’ve recently come down with a bad case of fundsalow and now that meat prices are soaring.
For this dish I like to use Roman Rigatoni. The Roman Rigs cook up real nice and give a good chew. The noodles have ribs on them which does a good job of picking up the sauce. Make this for your family and see if they can tell that it’s not chop meat in there.
Need This
1 pound of Roman Rigatoni (or any macaroni of your choosing)
1 cup of TVP (look for Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1 – 26 ounce jar of meat flavored tomato sauce
½ cup of whole milk
1 Tablespoon of butter
Olive oil
1 clove of garlic chopped
1 large carrot chopped fine
1 large celery stalk chopped fine
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Do This
Fill a large pot with cold water; add a good size pinch of salt to it and put it on a high heat.
Throw the cup of TVP into a bowl.
In a small saucepan, pour in just short of 1 cup of water. Add a good couple of shakes of onion powder.
Put it on a stove burner on high heat and bring it to a quick boil. As soon as it starts to boil remove from heat and pour the liquid over the dry TVP. Mix and set aside.
Put a glug of olive oil into a non-stick frying pan. Toss in the chopped garlic, carrots, and celery and put a medium heat under it. Sweat the carrots and celery for about 3 to 4 minutes stirring frequently.
Add the jarred tomato sauce to the pan. Pour the ½ cup of milk into the empty jar of tomato sauce – put the lid on it – and shake it vigorously two or three times. Pour the tomato-milk into the sauce pot.
Now add the juiced-up TVP. Stir real good.
Add salt and pepper to taste and a generous shake of Italian seasoning. Stir it all up again then reduce the heat to very low. Let simmer on low for ten minutes stirring occasionally.
When your pot of salt water comes to a rolling boil throw in the rigatonis. Swirl them around in the pot with a long handled spoon so that the noodles don’t stick together. DO NOT REDUCE THE HEAT. Note the time.
If you are using Roman Rigatonis cook them on high for about 16 minutes stirring frequently. If you are using a different macaroni just follow the package instructions – but check for doneness along the way.
Drain the cooked macaroni into a colander then immediately toss it back into the pot. Add the tablespoon of butter to the pot and toss to coat the macaroni.
Now dump the red sauce on top of the buttered macaroni. Mix thoroughly and serve. Top with a little grated parmesan cheese.
Serves 4. My cost approx. $ 5.80 total – $ 1.45 per serving.
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