As my quest for baked crispy tofu perfection continues, it’s led me down an untrodden path — one paved with Parmesan.
Of course, I’ve seen the recipes for tofu parmigiana, typically topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce, and baked until melty. And plenty of vegan-Parmesan-crusted tofu recipes exist around the web. But it only occurred to me to try a dusting of the real cheese, naturally, as I was recently gearing up for a trip to Parma, Italy.
I was making one of my go-to tofus, whisking together the cornstarch and oil that, when roasted at high heat, creates a golden, crunchy crust. This simple, brilliant technique, which I learned from the cookbook author Jenny Rosenstrach, has become the standard play of my sheet-pan tofu game. Not only do the tofu cubes roast up gorgeously bronzed, but the technique also leaves room on the tray for seasonal vegetables — tomatoes or zucchini in summer, broccolini or brussels sprouts in winter, cauliflower or mushrooms in fall — to make it a one-pan meal.
This was an evening in early spring, so I had laid out sugar snap peas and red onions.
I was about to sprinkle some grated Parmesan over the vegetables, but as the fluffy wisps of cheese collected in the pan, visions of frico danced in my head: the sort of browned, shatteringly crisp disks that I can’t stop eating. I emptied the Parmesan container over the tofu, stuck the pan in the oven and hoped for a tofu grail.
Half an hour or so later, the kitchen smelled heavenly, a little like pizza.
What emerged from the oven was everything I had hoped. The tofu cubes were deep golden on top, and even browner on the bottom where the Parmesan met the hot metal of the pan. The sugar snaps and onions were caramelized and slightly charred. I squeezed on a little lemon juice and then ate where I stood, gobbling the tofu cubes like handfuls of hot buttered popcorn.
I’ve since made plant-based versions of this dish, experimenting with both vegan Parmesan and an equal amount of nutritional yeast — perfect options for anyone avoiding cheese.
After all, the quest for any sort of perfection can take strange and unexpected turns. But for this easy weeknight dinner, Parmesan was the right hero at the right time.
