Baked Tofu and Mushrooms

This dish is a very tasty and unusual way of cooking tofu. The tofu is marinaded in a garlic, lemon, soy sauce and tomato paste marinade, and so is best made the night before cooking. It is very full of flavour and if you want to tone it down a bit use less garlic and/or less soy sauce. You can eat this with pretty much any carb of your choice; I had it with mash potato this time but in the past I have had it with rice or noodles, and I am sure you could also eat it with pasta. 

I am not a big fan of cooking with tofu because although it is very versatile and you can do some really interesting things with it, I find the prep can be a bit of a pain if you don't want it to fall apart when stirred into anything. To prepare tofu properly you should press it to remove excess liquid before dry frying it. I frequently don't bother to press it; if you dry fry it for long enough and make sure you press the tofu lightly when frying, you should remove enough of the liquid and give the tofu some stability. Note: if you dry fry it, make sure you use a non-stick pan or you will be very sad. I speak from experience.

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients:

1 x 400g pack firm tofu
250g mushrooms (any type will do) 

2 tbsp lemon juice (juice from one lemon)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato puree
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:

1. Remove tofu from package, pat dry with kitchen towel, and cut into bite sized pieces. Dry fry in batches in a non-stick pan, turning frequently until browned all over. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Slice the mushrooms in half and add to the bowl.

3. In a measuring jug, mix the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, tomato puree, garlic and oregano and whisk together until thoroughly mixed.

4. Carefully stir through the tofu and mushrooms to coat. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes. Serve with rice, pasta, noodles or mashed potato.