Vegan

Orzo Puttanesca (soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free options)

Orzo puttanesca- Orzo pasta in rich, tomatoey puttanesca sauce with plenty of mushrooms, capers, and olives! This is a versatile, one-pot 30 minute weeknight meal that your family is going to absolutely LOVE!

orzo puttanesca in the pan after melting the cheese and topping with herbs and black pepper

Puttanesca sauce has its roots in mid-century Italy. Its exact origins are debated, but it became popular during World War II, and it features simple ingredients like tomatoes, capers, garlic, and onion. Traditional puttanesca also uses anchovies, but the nori sheet in this orzo puttanesca delivers that salty-savory-fishy flavor without any fish. If you don’t like that fishy flavor, you can just omit the nori.

This is a super quick, one-pan pasta dinner. We make this delicious puttanesca sauce and add some mushroom and either lentils, veggie grounds, or TVP for the protein. Once the sauce is boiling, we add some orzo to it and then just cook it in the same pan on the stovetop.

orzo puttanesca on a plate with garlic bread

The result is this really delicious, saucy orzo mix that we top with melted cheese and garnish with fresh basil or other herbs and that’s it! It’s it makes a super quick, weeknight dinner.

You can also add whatever other pasta shapes that you like to the sauce, and it’ll work out just fine. Just the cooking time might vary, based on the pasta you use.

close-up of scooping up some orzo puttanesca from the pan

Why You’ll Love Orzo Puttanesca

super simple one-pot pasta
tons of amazing flavor from garlic, onion, mushrooms, capers, Kalamata olives, and herbs!
creamy, melty, cheesy topping, no dairy needed
easily made gluten-free, soy-free, and/or nut-free

More One Pot Pastas

One Pan Veggie Pasta
Creamy One-Pot Mushroom Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes
One Pot Harissa Pasta
Romesco Skillet Pasta

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Vegan

Tofu Kondattam (South Indian Spicy Crispy Tofu)

Tofu Kondattam, a South Indian crispy spicy tofu is a fantastic side or appetizer! Tofu is crisped with spices then tossed in a thick sauce of aromatics, four types of chilies – Kashmiri chili powder, pepper, red and green chilies, curry leaves and Garam masala! Try this regional Indian recipe.

tofu kondattam in the pan after cooking and adding garnishes

I love this spicy crispy kondattam. This southern Indian spicy dish usually has chicken is marinated and then fried. I’ve made a version before, see my crispy Soy Curls Kondattam. For this version, I make it saucier and use tofu that is marinated and baked to get it nice and crisp without. Then, we make the sauce and toss all of that together for this amazingly flavorful dish that you can serve as a starter, side or as an entree.

Chicken kondattam is a spicy dish from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Traditionally, for this dish, chicken is marinated in a fiery red marinade and then fried to crisp. Then it is tossed with thick sauce of dried chilies, curry leaves, ground spices, and Kashmiri chili powder.

Tofu kondattam is really hot with four types of chilis bringing the heat: Kashmiri chili powder, black pepper, dried red chilis and green chilies! If you want it to be less hot, you can reduce the amount of dried red and the green chilies or choose milder versions. You can cut down on the black pepper and Kashmiri chili powder, as well. The color will change a bit, because the Kashmiri chili powder adds a lot of color to the dish, but there’ll still be plenty of flavor, even if you need to cut it a little bit.

This dish definitely tastes the best if you use real Kashmiri chili powder, because the chilies have a specific flavor profile. It will work with paprika instead, but for the real deal, get some Kashmiri chili powder.