Baked Tofu, Beef and Cheese

Baked Tofu, Beef and Cheese

I love baked cheese dishes and this is something different from the usual baked rice with cheese one-dish meals I’ve made. The tofu makes this dish extra healthy. I first ate this dish at a local cafe with my buddy Anemone and we really love it. But the dish cost more than S$10 before taxes and the portion (appetizer size) is very small. So we thought, why don’t we try to recreate this at home? We can make more for less. My buddy figured out 99% of the recipe, while I leeched on her expertise and just added some curry powder as a final touch. After all our hard work at recreating the dish, the end result tastes nothing like the cafe version though hehe, but I thought ours is better ;)

Ingredients
(makes 3 appetizer sized servings)

– 250g minced beef
– 1/3 beef seasoning cube
– half large yellow/white onion, finely chopped
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– shredded mozzarella cheese
– 150g firm white tofu (water drained), cut to smaller and flat pieces

Seasonings
– 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
– freshly cracked black pepper
– 1 tbsp curry powder (I use leftover powder from making curry vegetables)

Tools needed
– oven-safe baking dishes (shallow type, for one person size)

Note: I used 3 personal size baking dishes (one per person) and divided the ingredients into 3 portions

Directions (Step by Step Photos)

1. In a bowl, add minced beef and seasonings. Mix well and let it marinade for about 10 minutes.

2. Heat up a pan with some olive oil and add the onions and beef cube. Saute or fry on gentle heat till the onions look translucent.

3. Add the minced beef. Stir fry for a very short while (around 30 seconds) and turn off the flame. Continue to fry the beef (breaking them to small bits with your spatula) with the flame off to prevent overcooking. It is all right if the beef is not totally cooked at this point (and it shouldn’t be) as you are going to bake it further. If you overcook the beef, it will taste chewy and tough.

4. In the baking dish, add tofu slices (notice that they are quite thinly sliced) to line the bottom of the dish.

5. Spoon the beef and onions mixture you prepared earlier in step 2 over the tofu.

6. Top it up with a generous layer of shredded cheese.

7. Bake in preheated oven 200c (400F) for about 15-20 minutes.

8. Your baked tofu and beef is ready when the cheese is fully melted and slightly browned.