# Creamy Tuscan white bean and tofu skillet

Source: https://hungryvegan.co/recipes/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.

- Prep: 10 min
- Cook: 25 min
- Serves: 4
- Protein: about 28 g per serving (computed from USDA FoodData Central values)
- Diet: vegan
- Key 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
- 1 block (14 oz) extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into 3/4 inch cubes (340 g pressed)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt

### Creamy beans
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 cans (15 oz each) cannellini beans, drained (480 g drained)
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk (240 g)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (8 g)
- 5 oz baby spinach (140 g)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste

### To serve
- 4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted (128 g)

## Steps
1. **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.
2. **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.
3. **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.
4. **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.
5. **Serve.** Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with toast for dragging through the sauce.

## 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
### 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.


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.