Crusted Tofu Cacciatore
This tofu cacciatore is based on an Italian classic, chicken cacciatore. I have even seen a shrimp cacciatore. Cacciatore is really a fancy name for a stew.
I used to work the sauté station in an Italian restaurant and learned so much from my chef at the time. I am pretty sure working alone on a sauté station in any Italian restaurant will make or break you because you will get slammed. Even as I am writing this I am reflecting on old memories of 20 top reservations coming in and 15 of them ordering - chicken fettuccini alfredo. And they just happen to be one table in the restaurant. Remincing on the nights I had 15 + alfredo’s, maybe 5 carbonara’s, 2 ravioli’s, 2 gnoccis’s and every time you finish a ticket there are at least 3 more to replace it. It was wild but so much fun truly for the team we had. Any toot back to the recipe.
I like to use fregola pasta sometimes cause I like the mouth feel of the little pearly pasta and I like that I can do some fancy plating using a ring mold which isn’t what I ended up doing for the picture down below. Sometimes I go the rustic route but regardless this crispy tofu cacciatore is a 10/10 classy comfort dinner.
Ingredients - Cacciatore
1 white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup peppers, small diced
¼ cup carrots, small diced
1 cup red wine
2 cups veg stock
2 cups fregola
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
salt + pepper to taste
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tomato, diced
1 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp vegan butter
Olive oil, for cooking
Ingredients - Tofu Batter
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
Ingredients - Fried Tofu Breading
1 block of tofu, cut into desired cutlet shape
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup panko
1 tbsp adobo
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
Step 1
Sauté your first 4 ingredients till golden brown in vegan butter, add in your tomato paste and allow to cook for a few min. Then add in your chopped tomato's. Cook for a few minutes then deglaze with the red wine and allow to reduce.
Step 2
Add in your stock and any herbs like rosemary and sage and allow to reduce some more.
Step 3
Once this has cooked down add in your pasta and allow pasta to cook.
Step 4
Mixx around your saucy mixture and pour in your coconut milk and watch it thicken and get creamy.
Step 5
Add in your chopped basil and any finishing's you'd like to add. Set stove on low and allow flavors to mingle while we work on the tofu.
Step 6
Take your tofu cutlet and submerge into batter, then coat both sides with breading, then drop that sucker in a pot of hot oil till golden brown. Allow excess oil to drip off onto a paper towel.
Step 7
Plate your masterpiece with a scoop of your delicious cacciatore, crispy tofu cutlet and a some on top of some left over tomato sauce on top. I garnished mine with shaved walnuts, fried capers and a fresh basil leaf.
