Vegetarian Christmas - Tofurkey

They are ugly but I swear to you they are actually delicious

This recipe is for individual serve-sized tofurkeys, rather than one large one. I find they are easier to cook, serve, store, and reheat that way. Also they look kinda cute, if you can look past the weirdly smooth texture and biodome-like appearance.

Apologies for the shite low res photos - they were taken off my old blog from 10 years ago (yes, this is how long I have been putting my recipes on the internet - longer, actually!) and I didn’t have the time or energy to make another batch.

You will need: A food processor (unless you want to mash tofu into a fine paste by hand, to which, I say, good luck!), a mixing bowl, a six cup capacity muffin tin, a frypan, a chopping board, and a decent knife

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Ingredients

700g firm tofu
About half a loaf of stale sourdough bread, or gluten free alternative (you can use whatever bread you like, but I usually use the leftovers of sourdough loaves that have gone stale before they can be finished).
Parsley, 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Sage, 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Rosemary, 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Thyme (for no other reason than they are in a song), 1/4 cup, finely chopped
125g butter or vegan spread
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbs vegemite
1 tbs soy sauce (or tamari if you need gluten free)
2 cups of vegetable stock* or hot water in two separate containers

*If you use stock, make sure it’s a salt reduced or homemade type, otherwise skip it altogether - the Vegemite and soy are more important here, and you don’t want the end product to be too salty

Method

For the stuffing

1. Process the bread in a food processor or blender, until you get bread crumbs.

2. Melt the butter or vegan spread in a large pan. Fry one half of the herbs, and the garlic and onion on medium heat, until the onion is translucent.

3. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan. Fry the breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly with the herbs and onion. Turn off the heat and start to add the stock or hot water to the pan. You want enough water so that the mixture will stick together, but not enough so that it become a soggy mess. Season VERY well. Stuffing is supposed to be salty.

4. Set aside to cool while you prepare the tofu.

For the tofu

1. Crumbled the tofu into a food processor.

2. Add the tablespoon of vegemite and the soy sauce to one of the cups of hot water and stir until dissolved.

3. Add the remaining half of all of the chopped herbs.

4. Add about a quarter of the vegemite stock and a quarter of the plain water and process. Taste the result. You are looking for a smooth, but firm, paste, with a bit of body to it, not overpowering vegemite/soy flavour. Keep adding vegemite stock and water until you get the right consistency and flavour.

5. Line your 6 cup muffin tin with baking paper.

6. Fill each cup with tofu mixture to about 2/3 way. Form a well in the centre, so that the tofu comes up the sides. This is your stuffing spot. Don’t use all of it, because you will need enough leftover to cover the top of your tofurkeys. The ‘top’ needs to be thick enough to form a base.

7. Get about a golf ball shaped lump of stuffing prepared for the centre of your tofu. You will be tempted to overfill, because it doesn’t look like a lot, but if you put too much in, the tofu lid won’t cover it properly and will break.

8. Your stuffing and tofu should come up to about a centimetre from the top, so you have room for your ‘lid’.

9. Cover the stuffing with the remaining tofu. Leave no gaps, as it will fall apart when you try to remove it from the tin.

10. Brush the tops of the tofurkeys wit olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, or until brown on top. You can invert them once they are out, put them on a roasting tray with baking paper on the bottom, brush again with olive oil, and brown the dome side, but it’s an aesthetic choice and you can skip it if you are running out of time.

11. Serve as is, or store in the refrigerator until Christmas Day. Brush the dome top with olive oil and reheat for 15 mins in the oven, until browned. If storing for longer, freeze and defrost in the fridge when required.