Chipotle Tofu Tortas
Now that I own a number of cast iron presses, I haven't shied away from making paninis for large crowds since I can make them en masse on the grill. While this has led to some great things like artichoke and broccoli rabe paninis, tomato, mozzarella, and pesto paninis, and meatloaf paninis, just to name a few, I haven't taken up the Mexican variation of pressed tortas in recent years. That's a shame because I'm drawn to the flavors of tortas, so when I was looking for a very hearty vegetarian option to fit into a Mexican-influenced menu, I turned to the torta and devised these pretty excellent chipotle tofu tortas.
I know that a number of folks in my vegetarian constituency can't handle heat in the same manner I can, which left me wondering how spicy I could push the marinade for this tofu. I worried if I scaled back on the smoky heat of the chipotles, that primary characteristic would get lost in the sea of ingredients that would make up the final sandwich, but I also didn't want to make something my friends wouldn't eat. I ended up siding with my own intuition though and went in heavy on the chipotles in adobo which was main trait of the marinade that also included some fresh citrus, brown sugar, garlic, cumin, and oil.
I introduced that thick marinade to extra-firm tofu that I had cut into about half-inch thick slices. After pouring the marinade in the container, I had to gently turn the tofu to get it completely covered in the sauce. I then put the whole thing in the fridge, which wound up the be a bad idea because the oil solidified. Marinating at room temperature for an hour or so would have been the way to go, so I made that change in the final recipe.
I waffled back and forth about adding roasted poblanos in these tortas—on one hand, I think they would taste great, but on the other, they introduce more work that could be off putting for some. I figured if you have the grill going already, charring some peppers really isn't much of an ask, especially since it's best done while the fire is blazing hot and you're probably waiting for it to settle a bit anyway. Also, the resting period the peppers need takes place while the tofu is cooking, so they fit into the production pretty well.
When the grill was clear of the peppers and I put the tofu on the cool side of a two-zone fire, a lot of the marinade ended up being left in the container, which was good news because I found the tofu needed extra brushings of the marinade during grilling. I brushed on extra sauce twice, about five and 10 minutes into the cooking process.
Once the tofu lost enough surface moisture to begin to brown is when I slide the slices over to the hot side of the grill. This is when the exterior really gained a nice color and a little crispness on the outside. You want to be careful here because you also need to prevent the interior from drying out, so once the slices looked like the one in the photo above, I removed them from the grill.
After the tofu was all done was when I placed my cast iron presses over the now medium hot fire to preheat while I moved on to sandwich assembly. You can top these tortas to your own personal taste preference, but mine went like this: mayo on both sides of the bread, tofu slices, poblano strips, Oaxaca cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.
I've found pressing sandwiches works best once the fire is running in the 300-350°F range because when it's much hotter than that, the bread tends to burn before the insides are completely warmed through. The fact that grill had been going for 25-30 minutes before the sandwiches went on was by design so I would have the ideal heat for pressing. I situated the tortas close to, but not directly over, the fire, and put the presses in place while wearing welding gloves, and gave them a good press down to start the compression process. Then I let the tortas cook, covered, until they were compressed a little further and warmed throughout.
Not all tortas are pressed, but for me, that's what really sealed the deal on this particular variation. The crusty bread added an important texture that would have been missing since most of the innards were pretty soft. Going in strong with the chipotles was the right choice because they definitely had a good presence in the final sandwich, but as I suspected, once combined with the cheese, mayo, and avocado, there was enough cooling power that the sandwich on the whole wasn't really spicy. The tomatoes and lettuce also helped the whole thing out with added freshness, which was a welcomed trait in this pretty massive creation. The tortas were so big that I would imagine half a sandwich would be a sufficient portion for most folks, but I wrote the yield to be three to six servings because if you're hungry, you would probably be left pretty happy devouring an entire one of these babies.
