Creamy Tuscan white bean and tofu skillet
This Tuscan skillet sears tofu, then simmers cannellini beans in a garlicky soy milk and sun-dried tomato sauce, mashing a few beans to make it creamy without any cream.
Published . First sent in issue 4.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Serves
- 4
- Protein
- ~28 g
- The vegan swap
- Soy milk and a few mashed cannellini beans do the job of heavy cream, and nutritional yeast stands in for parmesan.
- Make ahead
- Keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat gently with a splash of soy milk. The tofu softens a little but still tastes great.
Ingredients
Tofu
Creamy beans
To serve
How to make it
Sear the tofu
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high. Add the tofu and salt and cook, turning a few times, until golden on most sides, about 8 minutes. Move it to a plate.
Build the base
Lower the heat to medium. Cook the onion in the same pan for 3 minutes, then add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and pepper flakes for 1 minute.
Simmer the beans
Add the beans, soy milk and nutritional yeast. Simmer 5 minutes, mashing about a quarter of the beans against the pan to thicken the sauce.
Wilt the spinach
Stir in the spinach by the handful until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the tofu back and stir in the lemon juice.
Serve
Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with toast for dragging through the sauce.
Why this works
Searing the tofu first gives it a golden crust, and the browned bits left in the pan become the flavor base for the sauce. Adding it back at the end keeps those edges from going soggy.
Mashing some of the beans releases their starch, which thickens the soy milk into a creamy sauce. The lemon at the end brightens everything so it doesn’t taste heavy.
Tips
- A spoonful of the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar adds a lot of flavor to the pan.
- Keep the sauce at a gentle simmer. A hard boil can make soy milk look a little grainy.
Questions about this recipe
Can I use another bean?
Great northern beans or chickpeas both work. Cannellini get the creamiest when mashed, though.
What if I don't have sun-dried tomatoes?
Use 2 tbsp tomato paste cooked with the garlic for 1 minute. You'll get the same rich tomato flavor.