Culinary contests are an excellent way for students in JWU’s College of Food Innovation & Technologyy (CFIT) to get creative and sharpen their skills. Recently, Barilla called for recipes showcasing their Protein+ line, which includes 17 grams of protein from lentils, chickpeas, and peas in each 3.5-ounce serving.

Two of JWU’s 3 winners created vegan dishes, and one snuck in queso fresco as a garnish (making it vegetarian):

María Hernández, Cashew e Pepe (Vegan)
Vanessa Mello, One-Pot Protein Pasta (Vegan)
Josue Angel Cervantes, Mole Rosa en Otoño (Vegetarian)

Barilla asked for recipes that follow Mediterranean diet principles (high quantities of fruits, vegetables, high quality grains, legumes, fish, healthy oils and a reduced amount of animal fat) and a plant-forward focus, maxing out at less than 500 calories per serving with 5 grams of fiber.

“Mole is a symphony work. When making this dish, make it with your family; involve everyone. Incorporate the laughter, the mistakes, and the love.”

What are the benefits of cooking with protein-enhanced pasta? Cooking with them can be useful for those with restricted diets, explains Associate Professor Kara Cucinotta, DCN, MS, RDN, LDN, CNSC, “It could be very beneficial for individuals who need a high protein diet, or those with dietary restrictions due to multiple food allergies or a vegan diet. For these groups, protein food choices can be very limited, so this provides a convenient option to meet protein needs.”

The JWU students ran with this idea, keeping the pasta as the base protein and building from there.

María’s Cashew e Pepe (a riff on the Pecorino-and-black-pepper pasta dish, Cacio e Pepe) is her response to the question she is constantly being asked after six years of being vegan, “How do you get your protein?” She combined Barilla’s Protein+ spaghetti with a rich, plant-based “cream” sauce to create a complete protein-packed dish containing all nine essential amino acids. By building layers of flavor into the sauce — first an herb-infused brown butter, then nutty cashews and creamy cannellini beans — she mimicked the cheesy tang of the Pecorino. (Don’t forget the crucial addition of roasted garlic, which gets buttery and caramelized in the oven.) “The purpose of this dish is to maximize nutritional and protein value with ingredients that would be easy to obtain for the home cook who wants to optimize protein intake without utilizing animal products.”

Vanessa’s One Pot Protein Pasta leans on pantry staples and is designed with family-friendly economy in mind. She notes, “This recipe makes six portions (340g each) and utilizes full packages of ingredients, so there are minimal leftover ingredients to store, and easy to measure.” And any leftovers can easily be stored in single-serving containers for lunch or dinner later in the week.

Josue’s mole rosa recipe pays tribute to his ancestors from Taxco, Mexico. In Josue’s version, the sauce gets its rosy color from beets, its sweetness from white chocolate and dried fruits, its spice from dried chiles and its smokiness from hoja santa and tequila.

Don’t be daunted by the lengthy ingredient list — making mole is a perfect group project for a dinner party. As Josue explains, “Mole is a symphony work. When making this dish, make it with your family; involve everyone. Incorporate the laughter, the giggles, the mistakes, and the love. Having every person add their little twists and notes creates an orchestra.”