Black pepper tofu & eggplant

August 26, 2023

   

Cindy heard the See Also podcasters raving about this Smitten Kitchen twist on one of our favourite Ottolenghi dishes and was quick to pop it into our rotation. We've made the black pepper tofu for a bunch of special occasions, and this seemed like a less fiddly variant that incorporates a few more veggies without losing any of the punch that had us fall in love with the original version. 

It was exactly that - baking things first means that the eggplant is falling-apart-soft. Our tofu didn't really get crispy, but I think our baking trays got a bit crowded. It starts out looking like an astonishing amount of food, but everything shrinks down to a more appropriate, serves-4 kind of size. Cutting down on the pepper and fresh chilli and just adding a drizzle of chilli oil at the end is the perfect approach for our household, meaning each person can make their plate as intense as they want. Vegan version below - the original has butter instead of Nuttelex.

We served it straight up with rice, and a little bean stir-fry or something would still be a nice side to add, but it's pretty perfect on its own. I suspect we'll make this version a few more times before we go back to the original again!

Black pepper tofu & eggplant

(from this recipe on Smitten Kitchen)

500g firm tofu

1-2 eggplants (you want about 500g)

sunflower oil

1 tablespoon cornflour

4 tablespoons Nuttelex

1 medium red onion, sliced finely

5-6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1/2 cup tamari

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1-2 tablespoons ground black pepper

salt

chilli oil for serving

Preheat the oven to 220°C.  Cut the eggplant and tofu into rough 2cm cubes. 

Toss a tablespoon or two of oil with the eggplant cubes and a generous sprinkle of salt. Spread the eggplant on a baking tray or two with another drizzle of oil. Toss the tofu cubes with the cornflour and a bit more salt and spread those cubes out on the rest of your baking tray real estate (this was two very full baking trays for us, but all squeezed into one for Deb from Smitten Kitchen somehow). 

Roast for 20 minutes and then gently flip the tofu cubes and stir the eggplant around a bit before roasting for another 10 minutes. 

While everything is roasting, melt the Nuttelex in a large saucepan and gently cook the onion and garlic for 10 minutes or so, until it's beautiful and soft. Stir in the tamari, pepper and brown sugar and simmer for a few minutes. 

Stir the roasted eggplant and tofu back through the sauce and serve, over rice or breads or however you like!