Vegan Roasted Strawberries and Ricotta Breakfast Toasts

We sometimes get asked where we find inspiration for our recipes, and for this recipe, I can tell you the exact story. There's a restaurant called "Okay Café" in Neukölln, where you can get plenty of delicious vegan breakfast and lunch options. As soon as Corona is over, we highly recommend to go there and enjoy a vegan grilled cheese sandwich and small pancakes with savory and sweet toppings.

But what I often saw on the plates of my table neighbors was this splendid sweet toast: a thick slice of brioche topped with ricotta and a berry compote. Unfortunately, there is no vegan option for this dish, but I often think about it, and so it was time to give it a try and make a vegan and home-friendly version of it myself. To say it right away: no, we're not going to make vegan brioche today. Maybe some other time. Today, we're going for the lazy bread version, which is just a thick slice of white bread. But we're going to put all our time and love into oven-roasted balsamic strawberries and vegan ricotta, deal?

For the vegan ricotta, we wanted to offer an alternative to the often used cashews, so we used firm tofu. Although the strawberries are already sweet, we also wanted to sweeten the vegan tofu ricotta a bit. We added some coconut cream, vanilla extract, and maple syrup, as well as vegan yogurt and orange zest for a tang. Feel free to season the ricotta to your taste, though, and also mix it until the desired texture is reached. I personally liked the contrast of tangy and crumbly tofu ricotta and sweet, soft strawberries best, but of course, you could also add more maple syrup.