Italian Baked Tofu with Pesto Rotini and Sautéed Pattypan Squash

Whew! I need a better title for this dish. This was dinner. Very good. My first time with baked tofu! So very easy and tasty, I am excited to improve and expand on baked tofu.

I apologize for the slightly blurry photo, I'm trying my best to improve my photography skills. This one's a little better:



I'm too tired to put up all the directions and such right now, but I'll do it sometime tonight or tomorrow.

As Promised...

What You Need:
1 Block of Tofu (I used 16 out of 20oz of this jumbo sized tofu. Most water packed tofu blocks come in 16oz slabs.)
Pasta, any type
Pattypan Squash (I had nearly 500g worth)

Marinade:
Equal Parts of...
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
lemon juice
--> I believe I used about 3-4 T of each, mixed in a bowl.

2-3 Garlic cloves, crushed

Good pinch of...
Dry Italian Seasonings (I wound up using "poultry seasoning" because it was thyme, sage, rosemary, etc.)

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a bowl, whisk with fork, pour over tofu/veggies/whatever you are marinating.


Pesto:
Really Bad With Measurements on this one....
Basil Leaves (1-2c?)
Garlic (I used WAY too much, and that's saying something coming from me, so I'd say 1 big clove)
Pine Nuts (I believe I used about half a cup or more
Olive oil (1/4c?)
Salt, To Taste
OPTIONAL: Parma! Vegan Parm, really tasty addition. (Really, Really addictive stuff.)

---> Pesto Directions:
In food processor (Or The Magic Bullet!, blend all ingredients together. The result should be thick, like a paste rather than a thin sauce.


Ok. For the Baked Tofu:
1. Cut into an equal number of slabs. I got 6.
2. Lay tofu in a single layer on a flat surface like a small cooking sheet or, like me,In a big pot.
3. Pour marinade over tofu.
4. Flip after 30-40 mins to get other side of tofu marinated.
5. Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees F, depending on your oven.
6. Lay slabs out on cooking sheet,Like This. NOTE: save the marinade! Use it for the veggies!
7. Bake tofu on one side for about 20 minutes, then flip to brown other side slightly. I over didmine, but it was still tasty.
8. Remove from oven, cube or slice as desired.

For the Pattypans:
1. Slice/chop/cube/whatever 450-500g of pattypans
2. Over medium heat in a very lightly oiled pan, sautée patty pans for 2-3 mins
3. add some of the marinade (1/4c? I didn't measure, just poured some in)
4. Sautée for another 5-7 mins, until desired tenderness. Add more marinade if needed. The balsamic vinegar sort of becomes a glaze.
5. Finished! Serves 2-4.



So, yeah. The way I put everything together was to make the pesto while the tofu was marinating and prepped the veggies and had the pasta ready to go. Once tofu was in oven, I boiled some water and sautéed the pattypans for the last 10 minutes of the tofu cooking. Everything was done at about the same time.

I'm really, REALLY excited to try baked tofu again. I'm thinking of doing a more asian-flavored baked tofu next time.