Vegan Tofu Ricotta and Cherry Tomato Tarte Salée
When thinking about becoming vegan, the biggest thing that scared me was the lack of mozzarella. Not that I snacked on it raw on a daily basis, but more specifically because I couldn't imagine tarte salée without it. How could I live without that creamy, rich, and slightly crispy taste in my life? Luckily, I love culinary challenges, and after a few attempts, I discovered the secret to delicious, vegan savoury tarts. As usually, its all in the tofu.
As I've mentioned before in my posts about Japanese cooking, there are two main kinds of tofu: silken and cotton. Cotton is more firm, while silken falls apart in your hands. Processed tofu, like the kind you can buy in Tesco, is usually pretty tasteless, but hand-made and traditionally made tofu has a much deeper flavour. In fact, its one of the things that often puzzles me; in Japan, the absolute cheapest tofu (which is what we usually bought) is much, much tastier than the most expensive tofu I've found in the UK. Considering the number of vegetarians/vegans here, I would have thought we'd have imported some better tofu!
Anyway, my point is, buy the best silken tofu you can get your hands on for this recipe. Once you have the tofu, this recipe is a breeze. Just blend up the filling, top with tomatoes, and bake!
Vegan Tofu Ricotta and Cherry Tomato Tarte Salée
Serves: 4 - 6 as a main meal
Total Time: 1 hour
1 pie crust - recipe here
For the filling:
2 blocks of drained, silken tofu
1 large onion, chopped and sautéed
2 cloves of garlic, diced
100g of spinach, washed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Handful of fresh basil
Unsweetened soy milk
For the topping:
400g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, diced
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Additonal salt, pepper, and basil - optional
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Blind bake your pie crust for 10 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Blend the filling ingredients until smooth, adding just enough soymilk to blend thoroughly (for me this was only a few tablespoons). The mixture should be very thick and creamy. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, then cover with the tomatoes and onion. Sprinkle the garlic on top, and drizzle the oil and vinegar on before baking for 30 - 35 minutes, or until the filling is only slightly wobbly, and the tomatoes are starting to brown.
This is best hot, but also good cold the next day.
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