This Portuguese Gomes de Sá Tofu with a twist is nourishing, comforting and a crowd pleaser! It is one of the most popular Portuguese dishes and usually made with codfish. Today let’s give it a twist and turn it into a “sautéed tofu, caramelized onions and leek, lots of garlic and olive oil, toasted cornbread and fresh parsley” delicacy.
Ingredients you’ll need to make Gomes de Sá Tofu:
Firm to extra-firm tofu – ideally pressed, so it gets more flavorful and with better consistency. It also helps it hold its shape and prevents it from breaking up during cooking. Check my How to Prep & Cook Tofu – comprehensive guide to finding out everything about the pressing process.
Potatoes – Did you know that potatoes are a high satiety index food? With approximately 2.5 times that of comparable carbohydrates such as rice and pasta? The higher the satiety index the greater the feeling of fullness for longer, which makes potatoes one of the best foods to include in a high-satiation diet. I always opt to leave the skin on to maximize the ingestion of fibre, phytochemicals, minerals and vitamins.
Leek – one of my favourite veg for its versatility and delicious flavour. If you’re not sure how to wash/prepare them, just trim the tip and the dark green leaves on top (to avoid food waste use them in stocks or soups!), then gently cut a slit on the leek lengthways, and wash it under running water, cleaning the inside from all the grit and dust it might have. Drain thoroughly and slice in disks!
Cornbread – The Portuguese cornbread is a traditional bread made with cornflour, with a thick and crunchy crust and a slightly moist golden inside. It has nothing to do with the well known sweet cornbread. It is salty but slightly sweet at the same time, and I would dare to say this is my favourite Portuguese bread.
Bell pepper – any color!
Parsley – a staple of Mediterranean cuisine, parsley provides great nutritional value and offers many potential health benefits. Half a cup of chopped fresh parsley offers an impressive 108% of the reference daily intake of vitamin A, 547% of the RDI of vitamin K and 53% of the RDI of vitamin C.
Olive oil, onion, garlic, rosemary, pepper, salt, chilli flakes.
How to make Gomes de Sá Tofu:
STEP 1 – PRESS THE TOFU
Optional – press and marinate the tofu in advance. Check my How to Prep & Cook Tofu – comprehensive guide to finding out everything about the pressing process.
STEP 2 – WASH AND PREP ALL THE VEGGIES
This is a “one-pan” dish, and almost all the ingredients are cooked at the same time, which makes it such a practical and easy-to-make dish. Slice all the veggies, cut the potatoes and tofu into cubes and chop the parsley.
STEP 3 – BOIL THE POTATOES
Cook the diced potatoes in boiling water with half a tsp of salt. When cooked, drain them and place them in a baking dish.
STEP 4 – SAUTÉ THE VEGGIES AND TOFU
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add onion, leek, pepper and tofu and sauté for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, spices and half the chopped parsley halfway through the 20 minutes. When ready, pour them over the cooked potatoes in the baking dish.
STEP 5 – SAUTÉ THE CORNBREAD
Add the remaining oil to the same frying pan and let it warm up for 2 minutes. Add the crumbled bread and sauté on high heat for 3 to 5 minutes.
STEP 6 – SPREAD THEM IN A BAKING DISH AND TOP WITH PARSLEY, OLIVES AND/OR PICKLES
Create a layer of bread on top of the sautéed vegetables and add the remaining chopped parsley on top. Add olives and/or pickles and serve. Enjoy!
What can I use to replace the Portuguese cornbread?
The Portuguese cornbread is a traditional bread made with cornflour, with a thick and crunchy crust and a slightly moist golden inside. It has nothing to do with the well known sweet cornbread. It is salty but slightly sweet at the same time, and I would dare to say this is my favourite Portuguese bread.
If you can’t find cornbread you could substitute it with any crusty rustic whole-grain bread. For best results, you want to use dense bread with a thick and crunchy crust. Or you could also try to bake traditional Portuguese cornbread at home. I have to be honest, I’ve never tried to bake cornbread before but these two recipes seem like really good ones:
Portuguese Corn Bread from easyportugueserecipes.com
Portuguese Corn Bread from catavino.com
Other main dish recipes you might enjoy:
Harvest Stuffed Balsamic Butternut Squash
Roasted Tofu with Cabbage & Corn Bread Crumble
Ravioli with Lemon Rosemary Sauteed Mushrooms
Healthier & Vegan Carbonara
Gomes de Sá Tofu with Veggies and Toasted Cornbread Crumbs
Ingredients
- 1 medium block (300g) tofu firm or extra firm, pressed and cubed (see notes)
- 5 medium (500g) potatoes cubed
- 1 & ½ medium onions sliced
- 1 big leek the white / light green part sliced
- Half big bell pepper sliced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 & ½ tsp salt 1 for the sauteed veggies/tofu & half for the boiled potatoes
- 1/4 (200g) Portuguese cornbread crumbled
- Top with green or black olives and/or pickles
Instructions
- Optional: in advance, press the tofu (you can find the link to an explanatory post in the main text above).
- Slice all the veggies, cut the potatoes and tofu into cubes and chop the parsley.
- Cook the diced potatoes in boiling water with half a tsp of salt.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- When hot, add onion, leek, pepper and tofu and sauté for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, spices and half the chopped parsley halfway through the 20 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and place them on a baking dish. Add the sautéed vegetables on top.
- Add the remaining oil to the same frying pan and let it warm up for 2 minutes.
- Add the crumbled bread and sauté on high heat for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Create a layer of bread on top of the sautéed vegetables and add the remaining chopped parsley on top.
- Add olives and/or pickles and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
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