So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 82, Italian Savory Cake

I was really busy because of some more family obligations.  Both of us didn't sleep much since we woke up so freaking early at 4 in the morning.  The whole day we felt like zombies.  I did make an Italian savory cake - Ligurian Savory Cakes or Croquettes - based on Bryanna's recipe (pages 144-145) in Nonna's Italian Kitchen.  It was very good, to say the least.  I loved the texture and I packed a lot of vegetables into the savory cake.  It was fun to make as well.  Below is my version of this savory cake.

 

The picture on the right doesn't show clearly.  Basically there are three layers: bread crumbs on the bottom, a frittata-like batter in the middle, and more bread crumbs and black pepper on top.

Batter:

1 pound extra-firm tofu, patted dry and crumbled
1/6 cup silken tofu (the vacuum-packed type)
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. white pepper

Additions:

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
8-9 shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup of fresh edamame, shelled and rinsed
2 cups of cooked (or leftover) pasta (elbows)
3/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Crust and Topping:

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook the pasta al dante, if you don't have any leftover pasta.  Drain and run through cold water so that pasta doesn't stick and is easy to mix in later.  Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a food processor or a blender, blend together all the ingredients for the batter to a smooth consistency.  Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, over medium heat, sauté onion and mushrooms until mushrooms start to release some of the liquid.  Add garlic, zucchini, pepper and edamame.  Cook for about 7-8 minutes until everything is just cooked.  Take care not to overcook.
4. Add pasta and chopped parsley into the vegetable mixture.  Mix well.  Pour everything into the batter and combine.
5. In a baking dish, sprinkle bread crumbs on the bottom.  Pour in the combined batter.  On top of the batter, sprinkle more bread crumbs and black pepper.
6. Bake for 45 minutes.  Cool on a rack to room temperature before cutting into wedges.