Boil a Kettle, Chop an Onion: Veggie Carbonara with cherry tomato sauce

This is a recipe that crystallised last night, and the landlady and i hugely enjoyed it. as a carne, i always loved the simplicity of carbonara and would smother it in ketchup; this recipe turns that junk food into something a bit more artsy, but still remaining a pure comfort.

you will need:
for the spag:
smoked tofu
equivelent weight of mushrooms
wholewheat spaggheti
spinach
eggs, milk
fresh ground black pepper
veggie parmesan (for example)
salt to taste (OBV)

for the sauce:
olive oil and butter
1 red onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 chilli-pepper
about 20 cherry tomatoes on the vine
balsamic vineger
tomato puree


boil two kettles full of water for the pasta and stick in a big pan on the stove. chop the onion, garlic, tomatoes (they only need halving), and pepper.
dice up the tofu and mushrooms quite thinly and fry them off in olive oil in a large sturdy pan, until the tofu has coloured and the mushrooms have reduced. then set these aside for later.

melt some butter and EVOO together, and soften the garlic and onion for a few minutes. then add the tomatoes and pepper, adding puree and balsamic when these have had a chance to bite for a bit. leave topless, bubbling away and silking up on a low light.

stick the spag in the water, cook as usual (you know, stirring frequently and all that - whatever you do to cook pasta). there's a lot of stirring and not much else for about 10 minutes here - however long it take for your sauce to take care of itself.

when the pasta's done, drain it off and stick back in the pan on a minimal heat. add the eggs and some milk, and the mushrooms and tofu, and stir it all together, maybe sticking a bit of salt in. add the spinach and stir until all the egg is cooked and all the ingredients are mixed up nice. slodge into a bowl, plop a bit of the tomato sauce on top, and grind shitloads of black pepper and enough old smelly cheese on as you like. enjoy with a hearty red or an old tom, and some youtube vidds of professor brian cox.