This tofu florentine & Hollandaise sauce dish really hits the spot. So if you feel you’re in need of a tasty protein stacked vegan breakfast or brunch dish that uses tofu try this. This tofu Florentine with Hollandaise sauce, has it all, spinach tomatoes and avocado and of course pan fried marinated tofu.
Cooking up this dish will wow your breakfast guests, and it’s great for brunch too. With a little bit of pre-prep it’s easy, so it’s best to start marinating the tofu the night before, and you can soak the cashews overnight in the fridge. Better still is to make a double batch of the Hollandaise sauce and freeze what you don’t use for another day. The Hollandaise sauce keeps perfectly well in the freezer for months. I find that the Tofu King brand of tofu is best – and it’s amazingly cheap at £1.50 for 600g. There are several grades of firmness of tofu, but for this dish I find the medium firm is best. It’s a little delicate, so you need to be careful in handling it so it doesn’t break up. The firm would be be too firm though, so I don’t reccomend that grade. See the recipe for how to slice the tofu.
Make sure you have some perfectly ripe avocadoes to hand so that you can slice them thinly to place on top. You will also need some nicely ripened beefsteak, plum or large vine tomatoes. Don’t use the round salad tomatoes, because they don’t hold together when you cook them, and they are rather tasteless. I find grilling the tomatoes is the most successful way to cook them, but you could fry them too if you wished.
So, if you do some of the preparation in advance, it’s not that tricky, and the results are so worth it! I find that two slices of tofu fit perfectly on a slice of my wholemeal sourdough bread as it’s a slightly smaller slice size.
The best tofu to use is the Tofu King or chinese supermarket style. I think the medium firm is best, but it requires very careful handling but the texture is perfect. Always use beefsteak or large vine tomatoes – standard round salad ones are useless as they fall apart and have no taste.
If you use a lot of garlic, try buying it ready peeled from cash & carry – Bookers C & C in Bath to it.
Kala namak or black salt is a must use ingredient – for that eggy flavour and aroma – kala namak is even claimed to have health benefits. It’s hard to find, but most wholefood shops sell it. Newleaf health foods in Bath sell it loose and Harvest do it in pre-packs.
Hollandaise Sauce & “eggs” Florentine Supreme.
Ingredients
Hollandaise Sauce dry ingredients – enough for 10 portions – freeze the rest of the sauce
- 20 g Nutritional Yeast
- ½ level tsp Turmeric
- 1 level tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 level tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 level tsp Black Salt Kala Namak*
- 1/8 level tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 level tsp white pepper
Hollandaise Sauce wet ingredients – enough for 10 portions – freeze the rest of the sauce
- 150 g Raw Cashews soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- 2 Tbsp 30ml Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp 5ml White Vinegar
- 240 ml of oat milk
- 1 level Tbsp 20g Dijon Mustard
- 30 g vegan margarine
Ingredients for the dish itself – enough for 4 slices of toast
- 600 g of blocks of medium firm tofu you can use firm, which is easier to pan fry – but medium firm is best. Tofu King
- 1 whole Avocado
- 200 g of Spinach
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 2 whole Beefsteak tomatoes or 4 large vine tomatoes
Instructions
- Make sure the cashews are well soaked or it will take ages to blend – unless you have a Nutribullet. But a Nutribillet is the best way to blend this supersmooth.
- Add all the ingredients into your food processor (or Nutribullet) and blend thoroughly so that it is completely smooth.
- Pour enough of the finished blended sauce into a heatproof bowl – pyrex is best. Allow 50g per person should should be enough.
- Meanwhile, take some blocks of tofu, and slice about ¼ inch/ 5mm thick – this is each block sliced into 4
- Put a layer of soy sauce, chilli sauce, etc, kala namak in a large pyrex baking dish. Pour soy sauce & chilli sauce on top. After 10 mins, turn over.
- Pan fry this on a griddle or similar, on a medium heat in olive oil for a few minutes either side.
- Sauté some crushed garlic, then add in spinach and soy sauce and wilt the spinach until nice and soft.
- Slice beefsteak tomatoes – Turkish ones are best. Oil a baking try, and brush the top of the tomatoes with oil. Sprinkle some oregano and BBQ or Cajun spice on top and grill 5 mins or so.
- Peel and thinly slice some nicely ripe avocado pear.
- An alternative to avocado or tomato is to slice & pan fry portobello mushrooms
- Heat the hollandaise sauce over a pan of hot water in a glass bowl or on low power in the microwave until warm, but don't let get too hot or it will thicken too much. I find the microwave on 30% for a few minutes at a time – then stirring – gives the most consistent results.
- Make some toast, butter it, and if you like it, spread some Marmite or Natex on one side.
- Spread a layer of spinach, on that.
- then carefully place the pan-fried tofu, to cover the slices of toast. I prefer my sourdough, which uses less tofu, but on a standard wholemeal loaf you will need the whole 600g pack.
- Then place the tomato,
- finally place the thinly sliced avocado.
- Heat the stack in the microwave oven for around 30 secs to warm it all up nicely
- Then drizzle the warmed hollandaise sauce on top generously…..
- Finally sprinkle with smoked paprika and black pepper
Notes
- I’m testing if this can be frozen sucessfully.
- Quantity of sauce should be enough for a generous serving for 8 people – so either make less or freeze or use the rest in a different dish.
- Quantities of avocados, tofu, spinach & tomatoes are approximate and depend on individual preferences.