Pasta on a Whim

Often, after a several-day party when guests leave, I experience nervous breakdowns and a terrible aversion to cooking and eating. I go hungry all day because I don't feel like cooking anything. Or I spend the whole day looking into cabinets and the fridge, wondering what I'd like to eat. And nothing appeals to me.

But the cabinets are full of food. Well, something has to make it taste good for me. The best is to use leftovers from the party. But I don't feel like cooking. Damn. Something simple, like in five minutes. A kind of cooking on a whim.

And that's how my interpretation of pasta with pesto was born.

INGREDIENTS:
- 100g tofu (half a standard block)
- 20g (2 tablespoons) oil
- 40g (5 pieces) sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Juice from one orange
- 1/2 teaspoon ground garlic
- 100g pesto
- Fresh chili (optional)

PREPARATION:
1. Crush tofu with a fork and season with black salt and black pepper.
2. Cut tomatoes into strips.
3. Squeeze orange juice.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add tofu gradually to avoid lowering the oil temperature too much. Fry, stirring until it turns yellow and crispy.
5. Add garlic.
6. Pour in half of the orange juice and reduce it to a thick sauce.
7. Add dried tomatoes and the rest of the juice. At this stage, it can be an interesting addition to potatoes or pasta.
8. Fry until the juice thickens and add pesto.
9. Stir for another 2-3 minutes.

VARIATIONS
- I used classic tofu because that's what I had. Feel free to experiment with smoked or flavored tofu. You can also finely chop tempeh or use soy cubes or sunflower seeds. The addition of protein is essential.
- Instead of black salt, you can use regular salt or smoked salt. Each time, the taste will be slightly different.

NOTES
- A lot depends on the type of pesto you use, but orange juice is crucial, and it should be sweet.
- It's essential to cook the pasta properly. It's best to cook it 1-2 minutes below the time given on the packaging and check. When the pasta is almost done, turn off the heat and let it sit for 2-3 minutes in hot water.
- It's crucial to cook the pasta al dente, so it's slightly elastic and hard/crispy when bitten. There's nothing worse than overcooked pasta.

SERVING:
The serving is crucial here, especially the last step of preparing the dish, combining the sauce with the pasta. And the timing. This is a typical dish to eat right after preparation. After cooking the pasta, drain it into a pot or container briefly. DO NOT RINSE WITH COLD WATER. Mix the pasta immediately with the prepared tofu pesto. Optionally, add one or two tablespoons of the water in which the pasta was cooked. This water contains a lot of pasta starch, acting as glue to bind the pasta with the sauce.

NUTRITIONAL VALUES
For the given proportions, I recommend 100g of dry pasta per serving. The provided quantity makes two servings.
One serving has about 480 kcal, 16g of protein, 38g of fat, and 17g of carbohydrates.
100g of dry pasta is about 350 kcal.
So, it's a very hearty meal; I recommend it only on training days or after significant physical activity (as in my case at work) and generally for physically active people.
It's also a good breakfast (especially if you use whole wheat pasta) for people who then work intensively for many hours and don't have time/opportunity to eat.

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