I grew up with loving salami on pizza, so I wanted to find something that would give me the same umami flavour hit when I made my Whole Food Plant Based pizzas.
This tofu crumb does the trick for us. The flavour paste does a great job of sticking to the tofu, and the look and texture have a "meatiness". It doesn't look like salami, but on a pizza it has the same kind of flavour experience.
Left over crumb also adds interest and yumminess to lunch time salads and bowls. Its pretty good to snack on too! I have trouble keeping it for pizza when it comes out of the oven at our house, when people snack on it "just to check that it tastes ok" 🙂
Make sure you have previously frozen and defrosted the tofu.
Turn the oven on to preheat it - 180C, fan forced.
In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients, except the tofu. Mix to combine well.
Open the tofu packet and drain off any liquid. Pull off a handful of tofu, then squeeze it thoroughly to remove as much moisture as possible. Break the tofu into large crumbs and add these to the bowl.
Stir again until all is well combined. Spread the mix onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper or silicone sheet. Separate into crumbs/small lumps as much as possible.
Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven. Bake the crumbs until well browned, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and move the crumbs around every 10 minutes, to ensure the crumbs are cooked evenly.
Use the crumbs immediately, or store in the fridge for a week or so.
TOMATO PASTE:
I find I only use it in small amounts at any one time. So, in order to not waste any, I usually buy it in preportioned sachets, which come in a box of four. Each portion is about 2 tablespoons, so perfect for this recipe. If I am going to be cooking a number of dishes that use tomato paste, I will buy it in a jar, so that I avoid the extra packaging of the sachets.
TOFU:
In preparation for making this recipe, make sure you have previously frozen and defrosted a block of firm tofu (the kind you buy from the refrigerated section of the supermarket). This step is important, as it makes the texture of the tofu more chewy and "sausagey". What I do is put the tofu into the freezer as soon as I buy it, them move it to the fridge the night before making this dish.
Ingredients
Directions
Make sure you have previously frozen and defrosted the tofu.
Turn the oven on to preheat it - 180C, fan forced.
In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients, except the tofu. Mix to combine well.
Open the tofu packet and drain off any liquid. Pull off a handful of tofu, then squeeze it thoroughly to remove as much moisture as possible. Break the tofu into large crumbs and add these to the bowl.
Stir again until all is well combined. Spread the mix onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper or silicone sheet. Separate into crumbs/small lumps as much as possible.
Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven. Bake the crumbs until well browned, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and move the crumbs around every 10 minutes, to ensure the crumbs are cooked evenly.
Use the crumbs immediately, or store in the fridge for a week or so.
TOMATO PASTE:
I find I only use it in small amounts at any one time. So, in order to not waste any, I usually buy it in preportioned sachets, which come in a box of four. Each portion is about 2 tablespoons, so perfect for this recipe. If I am going to be cooking a number of dishes that use tomato paste, I will buy it in a jar, so that I avoid the extra packaging of the sachets.
TOFU:
In preparation for making this recipe, make sure you have previously frozen and defrosted a block of firm tofu (the kind you buy from the refrigerated section of the supermarket). This step is important, as it makes the texture of the tofu more chewy and "sausagey". What I do is put the tofu into the freezer as soon as I buy it, them move it to the fridge the night before making this dish.
2 Comments
Innes Hope
Posted on: January 4, 2023Congrats on your Tofu Sausage Crumb recipe! – It looks delicious, and I can’t wait to make it! I see you’ve put not only your creativity to work developing this, but thank you also for communicating your specialized knowledge regarding frozen tofu. This is also helpful when we’ve bought tofu that, though it appears in the fresh tofu section, it’s been frozen – I’ve come across this a few times in small towns that don’t have a big enough population for the shop to anticipate how much will be purchased at any given time. Same situation with restaurants in low population density areas. Now we’ve got the optimum use for it. Well done!
Fiona Stewart
Posted on: January 4, 2023Thanks for your kind message! I love having a block of tofu in the freezer, as it is a good standby when the fridge is looking bare. I hadn’t thought about “fresh” tofu having been pre-frozen. The texture is quite different! I hope you enjoy making the recipe.