Mild Italian Tofu Sausage

As our family has began eating more plant based foods I find myself looking for ways to convert old family favorites from meat based to vegetarian or vegan. Unless a vegetable on hand makes a good substitute, I often find myself looking to tofu as a replacement for most meat based recipes. Before we started cooking with tofu, I’d always joked that it tastes like nothing. In a way it’s true and that’s not really a bad thing. It makes it a great substitute in just about any recipe since it’s such a blank canvas to start with.

The trick is to season it as you go so it’s layered with flavor throughout rather just on the outside. When ever possible, I prefer to season it as I go so I don’t end up trying to season a bland lump of cooked tofu at the very end. One of the things I keep running across are recipes that used mild Italian sausage so here’s my recipe for mild Italian tofu sausage as a replacement for any of your favorite recipes that include it.

One of the things you’ll need is a good skillet to fry up the tofu. I love carbon steel pans. They’re lighter than my cast iron pans and season just as well so the food doesn’t stick and you can get a good crisp crust. They also hold up to metal spatulas and tools without getting scratched. For this tofu to gain it’s texture it’s important it doesn’t stick to the pan too much. If it does the tofu will have more of a grainy texture than the clumped together texture you’re looking for.

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Mild Italian Tofu Sausage

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 lbs firm tofu
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Open the tofu and drain out the water, pressing gently with your hands. Set the tofu on the cutting board on its longest side. Cut length wise into 3 equal horizontal slices. Lay the tofu back down so all the layers are stacked evenly on top of each other. Cut vertically into 1/4 inch cubes, this is about 6×8 rows vertically.

2. Instead of spending time pressing tofu, I like this fast method. Grab a handful of the cubed tofu and gently squeeze it together over the sink or a bowl to drain out the water. Put the squeezed tofu in a mixing bowl and repeat with remaining tofu until it's all been squeezed to remove excess water.

   

3. Add the cornstarch and all spices (except the fennel seeds and olive oil) to the tofu. Mix with your hands until all of the spices are mixed in. It's ok if the cubed tofu breaks up a little, that will help it clump together when fried to give it it's ground sausage like texture.

   

4. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium high. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to the pan. Add the fennel seeds and fry until just golden, about 1-2 minutes.

   

5. Add 1 more Tbsp olive oil, then add the tofu and stir so the fennel seeds don't burn. Let sit for 2 min, then stir gently letting it clump together as it cooks to form the crumbled sausage texture. If needed add the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil and sauté the tofu until golden.

   

Once you’ve got this recipe down, you can use it as a replacement in any recipes that use mild Italian sausage. One of our family favorites is this Zuppa Toscana recipe. The more you experiment the more uses you’ll find for this delicious mild Italian tofu sausage.