Meatless Parmesan

Parmesan or Parmigiana? What's the difference?

Whatever you want to call it, ooey-gooey cheese and your favorite sauce is a good start to any meal.

I'm procrastinating in telling you the ingredients to this yummy dish. As a matter of fact, let's just take a closer look....

not bad right?!

Ok....it's tofu!  Yes, the second time tofu has ever been on the blog (and in the Mo'Betta house)

The first time I made Tofu Parmigiana, it was not well received around here.  This time was no exception.  My family just will not embrace the idea of tofu.  They will eat chickpea cookie dough dip, and black bean brownies, but ix-nay on the tofu.

However, this is good! You should give it a try.  I sort of combined Tofu Parmigiana from Prevention RD & Lighter Eggplant Parmesan from SkinnyTaste.  The end result was pretty tasty!

Ingredients - 

1 package Extra-firm tofu

2 eggs

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

6 oz low fat ricotta (or fat free, which my grocery store didn't have)

1/2 t. dried Italian seasoning

1/8 c. asiago or favorite Italian cheese

1 cups reduced fat mozzarella (I used Sargento)

1 1/2 cups homemade tomato sauce (or your fave)

salt & pepper (to taste)

Lightly whisk one egg in a bowl.  In a separate bowl or plate, add your panko crumbs. Slice tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices and press water out of tofu using paper towels. Coat tofu in egg and one at a time, press tofu slices into panko crumbs, turning to coat all sides.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook tofu slices until crisp on each side.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta, remaining egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated cheese (I used Asiago, b/c that's what I had on hand).  In a 9x9 baking dish, put a little sauce on the bottom of the dish and put a layer of tofu to cover the bottom of the dish. Top with the ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese and sauce. 

Cover with foil and bake until cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, about 30 minutes* at 400°. Remove foil and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting. (*I can't remember if it took this long or not, since I used a 9x9 instead of a 9x12; so if you do this, check your time about half way through and adjust accordingly. Hey, what can I say, I have mommy brain most of the time!)

So how about you?  Do you tofu?!

Linking up with Finding Joy in My Kitchen for Ingredient Spotlight: ricotta