Angry millet and chillin’ tofu.

Proso millet was one of the first grains domesticated by humans, dating back to the Neolithic times and still widely eaten around the world. It is even touted as a superfood for its nutritional content and is supposed to promote hair growth, but amidst all the popular exotic superfoods this one is often neglected. It’s (usually) cheap to buy, fast to cook and has a very unique texture, so it’s wonderful as an addition to baked good, soups, grain-based salads etc.

In Slovenia it is often eaten creamy and sweet with fruits etc. as a sort of breakfast porridge, but if you cook it with less water, it retains its crunchy consistency and can be used as a side dish. I’ve found I prefer it savory in risotto-type dishes and it goes really well with tomatoes and arrabbiata flavors, so here’s my favorite angry recipe with proso millet (arrabbiata means angry in Italian). Also, if you think you don’t really like tofu, smoked tofu is the way to go, because the flavour is so much better in my opinion. 🙂

Arrabbiata proso millet with smoked tofu recipe

Ingredients

• 300 g (2 cups) proso millet
• 600 g smoked tofu (firm)
• 500 g cherry tomatoes
• 50 g (1 cup) sun dried tomatoes
• 1 small yellow onion
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 teaspoon dried chives
• 1-2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• salt

P.S.: You can also use an arrabbiata spice mix instead of the individual spices.

For 4 people

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Instructions

Peel and dice the onion and garlic cloves. Dice the sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces and chop the smoked tofu into cubes, then put them in a pot with olive oil to roast until the onion turns glassy. When they’re done, add the proso millet and let it toast for a few minutes, stir often.

Add about 2 cups of water, salt and the dried chives, basil, celery leaves and chilli flakes. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the pot. Let it simmer and add water as the proso millet cooks and it boils away, same as if making risotto (you’ll need about 4-5 cups of water altogether). Stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn at the bottom.

It’s done once the proso millet is cooked and tender (about 10-15 minutes) and most of the water has boiled away. Serve hot and enjoy!