Updated: Jan 12, 2020
#vegan #plantbased #glutenfree #nutfree
Hold. Give me a second.
I hate tofu. Phew, there I said it. Please don’t kill me all you real vegans out there.
Let me just stop you right there. You will tell me to spice it up, get it crispy, etc. etc. etc. I am so sorry, I tried and no.
There is something about the texture that does it for me; it’s too…spongy. Since becoming a Plant-idealist (I am not 100% vegan. 😬 Don’t shoot🤯🔫. A Plant-idealist is someone the belives in no processed foods and eats much more plants than animals or their by-products) I have learned to use mushroom, nuts, eggplant, chickpeas, and many other fresh plants as meat substitutes. Honestly, it has been awesome! Things are much more flavorful than when I was using animal protein as mains. I have to be more creative. That also goes for tofu. I see tofu used a lot in vegan recipes, but tofu doesn’t have any flavor of its own, so you end up having to compensate. When you use mushrooms and black beans in a burger in addition to the texture, you also get their umami (or savory) flavor.
That being said, I tried this recipe the other week at the “Vegan Israeli Grandmother” cooking class I went to, and I was in love.
First of all, the texture is amazing. If you didn’t know it was vegan, you would think it was actually fish or chicken. Second, the flavors. Oh, the flavors. It was heartwarming. With the first bite, I closed my eyes and almost believed that I was sitting and eating at my Moroccan grandmother’s kitchen table like the old days. Ehem…then I opened my eyes and remembered that my grandmothers were from Poland and Hungry 😳.
Anyway, because you are using a food processor, this is a very easy and quick recipe. You can totally make it within 30 minutes. It’s the perfect dish for a weekend meal with guests or a night time dinner served along with rice and Israeli salad.
Recipe
Patties
Ingredients:
- Tofu 300 gram or 12 oz
- 3 tbsp of bread crumbs
- 1 handful of parsley leaves chopped
- 1 small red onion diced
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 1 tsp of paprika
- salt to taste
- olive oil
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 200c or 390f degrees.
- Slice the tofu and pat dry as much as possible. Place the tofu into a food processor and process until smooth and unified. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients (except the olive oil) to the food processor. Pulse a few times. You want there to be small chunks of onion. Transfer to the bowl with the tofu mash. Mix everything well. The mixture shouldn’t be too liquidy. If it is too wet, add another tablespoon of bread crumbs.
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Creat golf ball sized balls out of the tofu mix and line them up on the baking tray, keeping space in between each patty. Drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden and crispy on the outside. I would flip them halfway, though. When finished, let them rest on the side.
Spicy Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1/3 of a cup of oil
- 6 cloves of garlic sliced
- 2 red peppers sliced
- half spicy green peppers sliced to circles (remove seeds and white inside part to reduce heat)
- 1 handful of parsley leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- 1/2 cup of hot water (or more if needed)
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 1 tbsp of paprika
- salt to taste
- a handful of parsley leaves chopped, when serving
Method:
- Heat oil in a large flat frying pan. Add the sliced red peppers, sliced garlic, and sliced green spicy pepper. Saute for about 2 minutes.
- Now, add the tomato paste and hot water, mix well. Add lemon juice, cumin, paprika, and salt. Bring to a boil. Pour in more water if you see that too much of the liquid is evaporating. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Plop in the tofu patties, cover with sauce. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. You want the sauce to be a bit thick, not too watery.
- When ready to serve sprinkle on the chopped parsley. It looks pretty (green and red are contrasting colors 😉 but the fresh herb also adds another layer of flavor.
