Anyway, let me back up. When my friend Lisa sent me the "dude" e-mail with the link to the pumpkin pie in a cupcake recipe, I somehow, somewhere, noticed a recipe for vegan alfredo. The vegan part comes from using tofu for the alfredo sauce. I was very intrigued--for one, I love anything with pumpkin. Second, I love alfredo, but I know just how not-so-good it is for me. And third, I love tofu, so I thought this would be a winning combination.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't. It wasn't pumpkin-y enough for my liking. And instead of being a smooth, creamy sauce, like I expected, it was kind of clumpy. I even added some water, thinking that would help. I also added more pumpkin, thinking that would help the flavor. Not so much. Other than adding the water, I followed the recipe exactly, using 15.5 oz. of pasta (on the plus side, we discovered buying pasta in the bulk foods aisle at Outpost is pretty inexpensive!). We found nutritional yeast easily enough in the bulk aisle, too.
The leftovers really weren't good--very dry and even more clumpy. I added a lot of Frank's Red Hot sauce to my leftovers (I keep a small bottle at work!), and that only helped marginally.
BUT, I just realized, from reading the comments, that I used the wrong tofu. I used a pack of the refrigerated kind. You're suppose to use the silky kind you find on the shelves (non-refrigerated kind). Hmm ... I think that would make a world of difference. I just might have to try it again.
With the pasta, we made most delicious Brussels sprouts I have ever tasted. I'm going to devote an entire blog post to them, they were that good. We also had more of that leftover cauliflower mash with shallots (that half head of cauliflower really went far!). If nothing else, I've learned a valuable lesson--if there are comments for a recipe, read them before making the dish!
Yes, silken tofu is not as far along in process. It's more "fresh". That's the kind you'll want to use for sauces, etc. You can blend it up for things like mousse or creamy sauces. If it makes you feel better I don't think I'd like this dish either :) I actually do not like tofu very much at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback, Megan! I always forget aout the tofu you find on the shevles. I'm not sure I've ever used that kind. Now I know!
ReplyDeleteThe concept sounds interesting -- and yet, I'm thinking a plain old pumpkin sauce would have more appeal.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up on the idea of using silken tofu, though. It makes a mean French silk pie, for one :)
Sorry I didn't have the chance to meet you on Tuesday! Hope you can make it to the Tweet-up in December!!
Hi there! Thanks for the comment. I'd like to try more stuff wtih silken tofu, especially now that I know what a difference it will make! I'm sorry I couldn't meet you on Tuesday, too. I definitely plan to be at the tweetup in December. Looking forward to it!
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