This spicy vegan polenta puttanesca is made with pan-fried slabs of polenta, layered with tofu ricotta and smothered in spicy tomato sauce.
This was one of my favorite pub dishes when I lived in Philadelphia. Yes, a pub dish. I was blessed to have lots of places in the neighborhood that offered not just a veggie burger or two, but all kinds of creative and delicious vegan and vegetarian options. Polenta puttanesca was my favorite.
Tofu ricotta is pretty amazing. Even after I'd made the stuff myself, when I first ordered this dish out I had to repeatedly ask the server "Really? This can't be vegan." It felt so rich, even more so than in other tofu ricotta dishes I'd had, and then being buried under heaps of spicy puttanesca sauce...I never would have guessed I was eating tofu. Now that I've made it myself, I finally believe it.
What makes this dish even more scrumptious is the puttanesca sauce. This part of the dish was new to me. When I ordered polenta puttanesca while eating out, it came with a super flavorful, extra spicy red sauce. I didn't really think much of it (other than "yum"), and actually assumed puttanesca was like regular old red sauce and the cook at my local pub was really into spice.
As it turned out, puttanesca is more of an amped up red sauce, containing capers, Kalamata olives, red pepper flakes and lots of garlic. If you're that person at the table who is known for dumping hot sauce on everything, puttanesca might just be your red sauce of choice. It just became mine.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Polenta Puttanesca
Ingredients
For the Puttanesca Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup pitted Kalmata olives, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, sliced
For the Tofu Ricotta
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound firm or extra firm tofu, drained
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup unflavored, unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
For the Polenta
- 1 roll prepared polenta (18 oz.)
- Cooking spray or a few dashes of oil
Instructions
Prepare the Sauce
- Coat the bottom of a large saucepan with oil and place it over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and transclucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute, until very fragrant.
- Add all of the remaining sauce ingredients except for the basil. Stir and allow to simmer, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the tofu ricotta and polenta.
- Stir the basil into the sauce just before serving.
Prepare the Tofu Ricotta
- Place onion, garlic, tofu, lemon, milk, salt, pepper and parsley into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the mixture is until well blended and has a ricotta-like texture, making sure to stop before it gets smooth.
Prepare the Polenta
- Slice the polenta into ½ inch slabs.
- Spray or coat a large nonstick skillet with oil and place it over medium heat.
- Arrange the polenta slabs in the skillet and cook until the bottoms begin to crisp up and brown, about 5 minutes. Flip and repeat on other side.
Assemble the Polenta Puttanesca
- Starting with a slice of polenta, create alternating layers of polenta and tofu ricotta on four plates, dividing the ingredients evenly.
- After layering, ladle sauce generously over each stack. Serve.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I love almost every recipe of yours I've tried - thank you for all of them! I'm wondering if I did something wrong with this one... the sauce is great, but all thar raw onion & garlic in the ricotta was not for me... too strong & too crunchy. I'll make this again with another ricotta recipe though!
Maybe reduce to half an onion for the ricotta or a shallot, otherwise a great dish.
Thanks for sharing!
Can nutritional yeast be added to the tofu ricotta for a more cheese like taste? Thanks
Sure! I'd just add a bit at a time and taste test. :)
Thank you! I will make it :)
This is absolutely delicious! I made it following the instructions...no substitutions...oh my goodness, it's good!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This looks so flavorful and delicious. I love the addition of the vegan ricotta.
Thank you!
I made this recipe for Mother's Day. Everyone in my family, including the carnivores, raved about how delicious it was. Thanks for sharing this terrific recipe.
I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know everyone enjoyed it.
This looks delicious! I love polenta but never seem to cook at home with it for some reason.
Thank you! I can forget about it too and it's a favorite of mine. I try to keep a few rolls stashed in the pantry to remind me. :)
This definitely sounds like something I wanna try!
I made this last night for my family. They absolutely loved it! Even my non-vegan husband did not bat an eye at the tofu ricotta. In fact, he asked that I serve this as an appetizer at our next dinner party! Thank you for the great recipe.
That makes me so happy to hear. :) Glad everyone enjoyed it. Thank you so much for stopping by to let me know!
This recipe is amazing! My boyfriend doesn't like tofu very much but he couldn't even taste it. The tofu ricotta tastes great. I'm going to make this more often :)
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it! I always tell people who aren't into tofu that they need to try tofu ricotta. Thanks Sarra! :)
I love puttanesca...your blog name is quite a mouthful but it made sense after seeing the Dino!
I love all things Italian and especially polenta! Definitely have to try this!
Thanks Jo! Polenta is definitely one of my favorites when it comes to Italian food. I hope you enjoy this!