Tofu Tourtière
I remember my Mémère making this for Christmas in my pre-vegetarian days, but she never cooked with tofu, as far as I know. I wanted to try something special for Christmas dinner this year, so I tried making a vegetarian version. Tourtière is normally prepared with meat. My mother recently confessed to me that she often ate her tourtière with catsup, which Mémère would find quite irritating - I tried it, and catsup actually tastes quite good with this version, too! :) This version is based on the one on the Cookbook Aficionado web site.
- 1 tablespoon garlic olive oil (or normal olive oil and a tbsp of chopped garlic)
- 1 roasted red pepper, diced
- 2 tbsp slivered, sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 1 14-oz tub of extra firm tofu: Frozen, thawed, squeezed free of liquid, crumbled
- 1 cup walnuts, ground
- 1 1/4 cups veggie broth
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried savory
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 3/4 cup grated, peeled potatoes
- Pie dough for 1 double 9" pie crust (this is a good one, if you need gluten-free: Easy Gluten-Free Pie Crust - to make it savory, cut the sugar to 1 teaspoon and omit the vanilla)
Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add oil, red peppers, tomatoes, tofu, walnuts, broth, wine, thyme, savory, sage, and bay leaves. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated, then remove the bay leaves and stir in the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce, and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill about 1 hour.
Roll out 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface into a 12″ round. Transfer to pie dish. Fill with tofu mixture. Roll out remaining dough disk into a 10″ round and place over filling. Crimp edges. Cut three slits into the top crust, and decorate with dough scraps, if desired. Chill for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400° F. Bake tourtière for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and continue baking until crust browns, 20-30 minutes.
Roll out 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface into a 12″ round. Transfer to pie dish. Fill with tofu mixture. Roll out remaining dough disk into a 10″ round and place over filling. Crimp edges. Cut three slits into the top crust, and decorate with dough scraps, if desired. Chill for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400° F. Bake tourtière for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and continue baking until crust browns, 20-30 minutes.