Italian Tofu

I seem to be on a search for good tofu marinades, so thought I'd try out the Italian marinade from Vegan with a Vengeance. (I want to try the pumpkin-seed crusted tofu from this cookbook next!) The marinade was really easy to put together and I thought it was interesting that there was 1/2 a cup of white wine in it. As it turns out, even though I marinated the tofu for 3 hours (2 hours longer than the 1 hour recommended time) it didn't taste like much after I baked it. I think if I changed the quantities of the ingredients (upped everything and put less wine) it would have a lot more flavour. The wine didn't seem to add much to the taste of the marinated tofu, but instead diluted the flavours of the other ingredients.

I really liked the cooking method of baking it on both sides then putting it under the broiler for a few minutes. Very easy and I liked the texture. As suggested by Isa, I didn't throw out the marinade but instead poured it over the yellow peppers as I was sauteeing them. With the bit of marinade that was leftover after that, we poured it over the baked tofu for more flavour. The marinade itself did taste good but it just didn't infuse very well into the tofu. I also love the suggestions for how to cut tofu (into long triangles or short triangles) on the page next to the recipe.

I've never seen an Italian inspired tofu marinade and I loved the idea. I will definitely play around with the ingredients to try and get the Italian flavour to come through in the tofu. If you want to try this recipe, I suggest modifying the amounts (maybe lots of herbs, more lemon, more garlic and more vinegar?).

Italian Tofu
(Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/2 cup white cooking wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, smashed
A big pinch each dried basil, marjoram, and thyme**

Prepare the marinade by combining all ingredients in a wide shallow bowl.

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the tofu widthwise into eight equal pieces. Marinate for an hour or overnight (if you have good foresight and planning), flipping after 30 minutes. Place the tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip over and bake another 10 minutes. Place in the broiler for about 3 more minutes for extra chewiness.

And as Isa said, use the extra marinade for something instead of throwing it away. Use it sautee some veggies like I did to eat with your tofu!

**I used dried basil, freeze dried basil and fresh basil, as well as some dried marjoram and thyme. (I went a little basil crazy. Never too much basil!)