Tofu Bean Tagine

I've never really been a tofu fan. I have never really been able to get past that mealy taste and in the past I've found that no matter what I do, it always falls apart and turns to a sort of tofu scramble. Discovering Tofoo really helped - it stays firm when you cook it, is really smooth in texture and I've successfully fried and roasted it before. This tofu and bean 'tagine' is gently spiced and aromatic, with loads of speed and protein packed in it - although it isn't cooked authentically in a tagine (as I haven't got one!)

This would also suit cooking in a slow cooker. At the stage where everything is fried and you are adding the passata you could put all the ingredients in the cooker on low for 6 hours. It may need a further spot of tomato puree stirred in 30 mins before serving to give it that thick richness. I find the slow cooker most useful on mornings of busy days when I don't have time to faff about, I just want to switch it on and forget about it. Therefore, for things like this that require frying or prep before slow cooking I do this the evening before and then leave the whole lot in the slow cooker dish, in a cool place, with the lid on before switching on as I leave the house the next day.

As with all recipes and meal plans on the blog I have highlighted the protein sources (P foods) in red, the speed (S) foods in green, healthy extra allowances in blue and syns, with syn values in brackets in orange. 

Tofu Bean Tagine


Serves 4 - but is syn-free so you can have as much as you like! 

110g Smoked Tofoo Tofu (half a pack)
1 tin borlotti beans, drained
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sriracha sauce (or 1 tsp hot chilli powder) 
1 tsp garam masala
Spray oil
250g passata (about half a carton)
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp quark per person
Snipped chives


Spray a good non-stick pan with spray oil and heat until a slice of onion dropped into the pan sizzles.

Add the onion and pepper and fry for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. 

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to stop it burning. 

Add the cumin, paprika, sriracha and garam masala  and a splash of water and fry with the veg for a few more minutes - you want to give the spices a good chance to cook through to avoid it tasting powdery or bitter in the final dish. 

Add the drained chickpeas and borlotti beans to the mixture and coat thoroughly in the spice mix cook for a few moments.

Slice the tofu into thick slices and then quarter them to give you good thick chunks of tofu and stir these in to get them coated in the spice mix. 

Add the passata, stir thoroughly and bring to the boil. At this point give the mixture a good stir to ensure it is all combined then turn down to a simmer and leave for 10 minutes without covering.

Check the consistency of the sauce, add salt and black pepper to taste and stir in the tomato puree.

Simmer for a further 5 minutes (longer if it seems too watery) and serve in bowls with a spoon of quark and snipped chives on top to taste.