Can I make a creamy sauce with silken tofu?

[runwestierun]

The new husband is lactose intolerant. He can take lactaid and successfully tolerate a smallish amount of dairy, but not a big bowl of ice cream or a pasta in a cream sauce. I've got some shrimp and I've got some silken tofu. Can I make a creamy pasta sauce with the silken tofu? I can use some real parmesan cheese and he'll be fine. Anyone tried something like this?

edited for tense

[pdxgastro]

I've used Soy Milk in bechamel sauce! The usual roux with butter and flour, and then the soy milk in place of milk. It came out great.

[runwestierun]

Really! I had not even thought of that. That's such a good idea. Thank you!

[Jay F]

Does he eat tofu?

[PandanExpress]

You can do a flour roux for the sauce with just oil, flour, and a little liquid like broth. That's what I use to make a creamy vegan mac and cheese sauce. For extra richness can you drop in an egg like for pasta carbonara?

[runwestierun]

Thank you, Panda. That's a very good idea. I should have asked how to make a nummy non-dairy cream sauce. The egg is a good idea.

[Professor Salt]

Haven't tried, but I doubt it. Even blended, tofu won't take on a creamy texture. It'll be particles suspended in liquid.

Can he tolerate a little bit of yogurt in the pasta sauce? Just whisk it in toward the end, and don't boil it or the solids might break. Since yogurt is cultured, it should have nearly all of its lactose digested by the lactobacillus.

Edited: Oh I misread your post. You wanted to make a cream sauce like a carbonara or an alfredo. I was thinking of a "pink" tomato sauce with cream in it. All that yogurt will make a white cream sauce too tart.

[bushwickgirl]

No, believe me, it works; silken tofu has a different silky texture, unlike regular tofu, made for smooth sauces like this. I've done it many times quite successfully.

Many lactose intorerant types can't handle yogurt, either. I can't very well.

[Professor Salt]

Huh. Color me surprised. I'm going to have to play with it. Do you just whir it in a blender until it's creamy? Can you overblend it?

[bushwickgirl]

Yes, blender or food processor. Overblend, well, I never did. It doesn't break, if that's what you were thinking. Try it out, most supermarkets carry silken tufu next to the regular stuff.

[runwestierun]

Thanks as always, bushwickgirl. I was just reading elswhere online about adding soy milk to the mix, but all ours is vanilla flavored. Does it need a liquid with it too?

[bushwickgirl]

No, not from my experience. No regular flavored soy milk in your area?

[runwestierun]

I just don't want to go to the store. I am not an urban girl (anymore). The new husband lives in Beautiful Nowhere, USA. Going to the store requires a significant expenditure of time and gasoline. I'll look for some next time I'm in town, but first I will try it without. I trust you when you say it works, I always get good helpful information from you, thank you.

[bushwickgirl]

Ok, and thanks, glad I could help. Check out the link I posted, Nava Atlas is a old time vegetarian pro/cookbook author. Hope it works out well. Btw, I've made the pudding with silken tofu, as oulined in tastegoodwhatisit's post above, was pretty decent, as the poster wrote, and very quic

[bushwickgirl]

Yes, you can and amazingly easily also. Puree it in the food processor or blender and use it as your sauce base. Won't be "quite " the same as a dairy based sauce but no suffering afterwards due to intolerance. He should be ok with the Parmsesan, hard aged cheeses are pretty much lactose free, or so my doctor told me.

For example:
http://vegkitchen.com/kid-friendly-re...

[tastesgoodwhatisit]

Yes, it works beautifully.

Use silken tofu (not firm). By itself it will produce a texture very like a creamy pudding - add cocoa powder, a bit of cinnamon and a sweetener and you can produce a pretty decent chocolate pudding. If you want it more liquid, just dilute it.