Guilt-free silken tofu Alfredo sauce recipe—improved

Silken tofu is my new best friend. My daughter’s a vegetarian and I’m not. I’m in Weight Watchers; she’s a long, lean athlete. Figuring out what to make for dinner is a challenge. Finding a variety of ways to add lean protein is one of my biggest hurdles.

That’s why silken tofu is my new best friend. I first learned about it while leafing through a Molly Katzen cookbook—she uses it to build a variety of sauces. It’s a great way to add a little protein to a dish, or to replace fatty ingredients like cream, sour cream, or oil, yet still enjoy a sauce with some body to it. It looks like regular tofu, but it’s more the consistency of thick yogurt. To me, it has even less flavor than regular tofu (if that’s possible). But that’s really the beauty of it. It’s so easy to disguise—it’s the perfect secret ingredient.

We’ve been experimenting with a lot of different dishes. We’ve tried it as a protein boost in enchilada sauce (fabulous), as an oil substitute in pesto (needs work), and my daughter dumps it into her smoothies. Unless she overdoes it, you can’t even tell it’s in there.

But so far the biggest hit is Alfredo sauce. Using silken tofu and a blender instead of cream yields a sauce that’s only two Weight Watchers points, rather than the usual two million. It’s rich and thick and creamy and addictive. Totally guilt-free Alfredo sauce. No more heart-attack-on-a-plate.

Even my skinny friends like it.

Guilt-free silken tofu fettuccini Alfredo
Serves four.
Each serving of pasta and sauce counts as 6 Weight Watchers points, 2 points for the sauce and 4 points for the pasta. You could reduce the points by using light tofu and high-fiber pasta.

8 oz. dry fettuccini
1 t salt for the pasta water

1.5 T light margarine
4 small cloves of garlic, peeled and halved

¼ C nonfat milk
6 oz. (about a cup) silken tofu, drained
2 oz. (about ¼ cup) regular firm tofu, drained
6 T Parmesan cheese
1/8-1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
½ t salt
grated rind of 1/2 lemon

Put both kinds of tofu in a colander to drain.

Salt the water for the pasta and turn it on high. (Use a ton of water—fettuccini tends to stick.)

Place the garlic halves and the margarine in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat on low power (3 out of 10 on my microwave) for 3 minutes. Let it sit for 2 more minutes.

When the margarine is ready, discard the garlic and add everything (except the pasta and the pasta water) to the blender. Puree until thick and smooth and Alfredo-ish. Taste it and adjust the seasonings to your taste.

When the water boils, add the pasta and cook according to package directions. When the pasta has about 3 minutes to go, put the blended sauce in a microwave-safe container and heat it on medium power for 2-4 minutes. Remove and stir.

When the pasta is done, drain it, put it in a bowl, pour the sauce over the top, and mix it all up. Serve immediately.

Fabulous with a green salad and lemony grilled shrimp. And a big glass of red wine, of course.

Update: 8/7/09—we tried a little lemon zest in the sauce, and it cuts the taste of the tofu a bit. Nice improvement.