I think there are few things less appealing to a man than saying,
"Guess what I made for dinner, honey!? Tofu Pie!"
Or at least any man that I know.
This is basically what happened when I brought this dish over to my cousin Gretty's house for dinner. Gretty was super excited to try my tofu, but when her super-manly, big-muscles, meat-eating, likes-action-movies-and-cars husband found out what I had made, you could say he sounded less than excited. Nevertheless, he politely took a serving. Sitting at the table, Gretty and I were munching away when all of a sudden, "MMMMM!" was loudly mumbled from the end of the table. Followed by, "If I didn't know this was tofu, I would love this!" Or at least something that sounded like that through the mouthful of tofu.
Since then, I revamped this recipe a little more to make it even more manly. Inspired by my good friend Chef Jason, I made a smokey marinade for the sun dried tomatoes. So when you chomp into your tofu pie, every now and then you will hit a wonderful pop of smokey flavour, and dare I say, meaty texture of a sun dried tomato.
Now, if you can only convince your man this isn't a tofu dish....
Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes:
1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
3 Teaspoons Soy Sauce or Tamari
Dash of Smoked Paprika
2 Teaspoons Maple Syrup
(or you can eyeball these measurements... I do.)
Handful of Sun Dried Tomatoes (preferably not the ones in oil)
Veggie Tofu Pie:
1 Medium Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
Big Bunch of Kale or Spinach (I used Kale)
1 Small Container of Mushrooms
Glug of Olive Oil
Bunch of Basil
Small Bunch of Rosemary
1 Block Firm Tofu
Couple Dashes Soy Sauce or Tamari
Big Spoon Mustard
Handful of Nutritional Yeast
Smoked Sun dried Tomatoes (recipe above)
Salt and Pepper
Use the sun dried tomatoes that are usually  found in a bag in the produce section, not the ones soaked in oil. This just helps them suck up the flavour. Mix your marinade together and toss in your sun dried tomatoes, and stir around. Let sit and soak up the flavour until you need them.
Preheat over to 425F.
Chop up your onion, mushrooms, kale (or spinach), and garlic. If using kale make sure to chop into small pieces. Over medium high heat, pour your glug of olive oil in a pan. When heated, sautee your onions for a couple of minutes until they start becoming translucent. Toss in your mushrooms and garlic, and continue to sautee, until the mushrooms are just starting to brown.
In the meantime you can chop up your basil and rosemary. When the mushroom sautee is ready, toss in the kale or spinach, basil, and rosemary. Season with Salt and pepper. When the kale or spinach is wilted, remove from heat.
Break you block of tofu into chunks and toss in your food processor. Blend it all up until it is all broken down into almost a riccota texture. Season with soy sauce (or tamari), mustard, nutritional yeast, and a bit of salt and pepper and blend again.
Now toss your tofu mixuture into your sautee pan with the other veggies. Using a fork or your fingers fish out the sun dried tomatoes and toss them in as well. Discard the remaining marinade.
Stir it all up until everything is evenly distributed.
Grease a pie pan and scoop your mixture into it. Smooth and pat it down so it's a nice looking pie.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the top is golden and the edges start browning. Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve. If you want perfect looking slices, you are better off letting it cool longer. If you are incredibly impatient like me, just call it rustic and serve it up!
Bon Appetegan!
Beata says
Made this recently as I was looking for a higher protein and lower carb dinner. Used 4 cloves of garlic, a large onion and 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms. Marinated my 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in about 3 tablespoons of tamari and 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke. Used a handful of chopped basil, a large handful of spinach (not chopped) and about 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary as I did not have fresh. Used a16 oz. block of super firm sprouted tofu, 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and 1 tablespoon of spicy Russian mustard (on hand) plus about a tablespoon of tamari in the tofu mix. At that point, I did not add any salt and pepper anywhere, as I was looking to use a spice mix instead.
After mixing everything together, the mix was of course quite bland (since I did not add salt or pepper) and dry, so I added the sun dried tomato marinating liquid back to the pan (in batches, in case all of the liquid would be too much, but no, I used all of it). I also used about 2 tablespoons of one of Penzeys spices seasoning mixes instead of just salt and pepper.
I've read a comment saying that the pie did not hold together, so I also added about a tablespoon of psyllium husk powder to the mix. Pressed everything into a 9x9 brownie pan and baked at 425F for about 25 minutes.
PERFECTION!!!The pie held together beautifully and I was really nicely surprised by the flavors and texture. Added some hot sauce to serve, but I felt that gravy would really elevate this dish and I'll be sure to serve with gravy next time
Making this again for sure. Thank you, Sam!
Tim Irving says
Hi all, we made this pie the other night, it was yummy. What are we missing? It fell apart into a "rustic mess" when we served it after waiting 20 minutes for it to set up. My husband wants to next time add eggs as a binder to make it more quichey. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Beata says
Hi Tim! I made this pie recently and added about a tablespoon of psyllium husk powder - the pie held together beautifully after cooling maybe for 5 minutes. Loved the extra fiber, too. Hope this helps!
Barbara says
Dry mustard or prepared mustard? Thanks.
Tori says
I've used prepared mustard twice when making this and it worked well.
Sam, this was one of the first recipes I tried from your site after looking all over for sundried tomatoes not in oil...how is that not a Toronto area Bulk Barn thing? Anyway, it's delicious! The first one I shared with family, who all liked it, but the second I kept all to myself and had awesome breakfasts for a week 🙂
If you're looking to update the formats on some older posts this is one I'd love to have in a more concise, printable version. Thanks for the great recipes!
Leslie says
First, I gotta say... we love all of your recipes. Every single one has been a knock-it-outta-the-park hit, and I love that there aren't tons of (weird) ingredients in them.
I know this one has been posted for a while, but I'm reviving it and it's a keeper. My super-manly, big-muscles, NON-meat-eating, likes-action-movies-and-cars husband couldn't stop raving about it. I made one tweak to the recipe (usually it's way more than that based on what's in my cupboards/fridge) - the greens I had on hand were dandelions and swiss chard, so into the pie they went instead of kale or spinach. They were a great add.
Thanks again for creating and posting!
Sam Turnbull says
Wow this is an old post and I forgot it even existed! Haha. I've forgotten what this one tastes like, but since your review, I'm curious and may have to make it again myself! So happy you are enjoying so many reicpes, Leslie! Love that your husband loves them too 🙂
Becky says
I made this last night for a holiday gathering with my dad's family. It was a hit with my die hard omnivore family, complete with people asking for the recipe. This could be the first time I have made a vegan dish where they ate more than a few bites.
I can't recommend this recipe enough.
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! That's awesome! I am so happy you and your family enjoyed it!
gabriella says
I'm not sure how the original tastes but I found this recipe after just making the vegan mozzarella. So I added a big blob of it to the tofu mixture before baking and it came out amazingly well. Thanks! Love the 'cheese'.
Sam says
Yay! So happy you loved the results gabriella 😀
Jennifer says
What temp do we bake this at?
Samantha Turnbull says
425 fahrenheit.
Welcome to my blog Jennifer!
Jennifer says
Thank you. It was a hit at my house tonight! 🙂
Samantha Turnbull says
That's great! Glad you enjoyed it Jennifer! Makes great leftovers as well. 🙂
Kim Paris (@sinisterfoxy) says
making vegan meals appear "more manly" - such a great topic!
Samantha Turnbull says
haha! Thanks Kim! Yes, I don't think the word "vegan" and "manly" are often paired together.... but the can be! Check out this video, this vegan body builder is amazing!! http://www.pinterest.com/pin/326229566729622708/
Gretty says
Haha yes that's exactly what happened with my super manly husband lol
mostlydinosaurs says
Cool photo summaries at the bottom! I just ate lunch and this tomato tofu pie made me hungry all over again 😛
Samantha Turnbull says
Haha! I know that feeling! ... I go on pinterest and just drool....
Melissa Stanger says
I love this—it's like a vegan frittata! Can't wait to try it at home 🙂
Samantha Turnbull says
Hey, Thats what I should have called it!! Good Call! haha. I hope you enjoy it Melissa. Thanks for commenting 🙂