Risotto can be made with any vegetable or any vegetable mix but asparagus gives it a really special, Mediterranean taste. A risotto can make a delicious starter or main dish.
Ingredients: (4 people)
2 bunches of fresh asparagus (Or 2 packets of frozen asparagus)
1/2 kg of brown round rice
4 tsp EVO oil
4 tsp of Nutritional Yeast
Salt
1L Vegetable soup or water and vegetable stock
2 tsp of curcuma (powder)
Method :
Cut the asparagus in small pieces and wash thoroughly in water. In a big casserole fry them in EVO oil for a few minutes then add the rice.
Add warm vegetable soup or warm water and stock in small amounts. Salt to taste and let cook on slow heat. Stir every now and then. Make sure it doesn’t stick.
You can also add some white wine with the soup. The amount of liquid needed may vary depending on the kind of rice used so you’d need to taste to make sure it’s done.
At the end, when the rice is almost done I usually add some soya or almond milk or cream to make it creamy together with the nutritional yeast. Mix and let it rest before serving.
You can add grated vegan cheese on top once it’s been dished.
This is not a pizza with cauliflower added as extra ingredient, it’s base is made with cauliflower. This means that we’re talking about a vegan, gluten free and definitely great option to trick children into eating vegetables without knowing it.
I found a few recipes on the internet and this is my own version. I took some ideas, experimented, cooked, tasted then decided the best option and amounts.
Ingredients (for 1 oven tray base)
1 big cauliflower (or 2 small ones)
1 spoonful linen seeds
1spoonful chia seeds
4 spoonfuls chickpea flour
Oregano
Salt
Olive oil
Method :
Firstly you need to wash and boil the cauliflower. Don’t overcook it. It can also be steamed instead of boiled which can take longer but avoid having to strain it too much.
Separately mince the chia and linen seed and rest them for 15/20 minutes in a glass with 4 spoonfuls of water. The seeds will produce a jelly substance which will act as egg replacer helping to compact the base.
Once the cauliflower has been strained, place it into a bowl, add the seeds and the chickpea flower. Add some salt and oregano to taste. Then mix thoroughly until you obtain a uniform mass.
Spread some olive oil with yous hands on oven paper then work the mass into a thin layer.
Bake in the oven at 210°C for 20/25 minutes. The baking time depends on how crunchy you wish your pizza to be.
Add ingredients according to your taste then bake for 10/15 extra minutes.
I wish you enjoy your cauliflower pizza as much as we did at home.
“Le pallottine” are tiny little meat balls traditionally made in my hometown with beef mince, of course mine are vegan, totally cruelty free and also gluten free. They are the size of a little chickpea.
I remember Sunday mornings back when I was a little kid, we woke up early and would sit at the table with Nan and Grampa and make the little balls while chatting. Of course I wasn’t aware of the cruelty and suffering contained in those tiny balls. Haven’t eaten this dish for so many years now mucho to the discontent of my dad who was so fond of traditional and family recipes.
When I heard of Beyond Mince I thought it would be the chance to try out the recipe which would make my daughter amazingly happy.
Ingredients:
200 gr of Beyond Mince
1 spoonful of chickpea flour
8/10 spoonfuls of buckwheat flour (in case you need to make them gluten-free, otherwise simple flour is ok)
1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
2/3 spoonfuls of nutritional yeast
1 big onion
A few spoonfuls of vegetable milk
EVO oil
Salt
2 tins of tomato juice
1/2 kg of pasta (spaghetti or linguini)
Directions:
Place the mince in a bowl. In a glass add some vegetable milk to the spoonful of chickpea flour, it needs to be creamy, not liquid. Add it to the mince together with some salt, nutmeg, nutritional yeast and add the flour very slowly while mixing it with a fork. Once the mix is thick enough start shaping the little balls with your hands and place them an a clean plate. Once they’re done fry them in oil and save them.
Meanwhile separately chop the onion in very small pieces, fry them in a pan until they reach a golden colour, add some water and cook until the water disappears. Add the tomato juice and some salt. Cook on slow heat until it becomes creamy. Once the sauce is ready add the little “meatless meatballs” to the tomato sauce.
Boil the pasta in salty water. Once the pasta is cooked you can strain it and finally mix it with the sauce.
I have finally managed to veganise one of my childhood recipes, one of those which filled my home with an amazing smell before my Nan would call us all for dinner.
Although the recipe for the outer pastry is from a friend: Lourdes, as my nan’s recipe got lost.
Ingredients for the pastry
500gr flour
10gr of dry yeast
125ml water (warm)
125ml olive oil
A pinch of salt
How to make it:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until you obtain a soft mass. Cover with a wet, clean towel and let grow in a dark place for about 2 hours (I use the oven while it’s off).
Start working on the pastry adding some flour. Once it’s thin fold it twice sideways from left to the middle, right to the middle, then fold it in half. Cover with a clean towel, wait 8 minutes and repeat 3/4 times. Finally divide it in two and make 2 thin layers separately. You’ll use one for the base, fill it with the content, then cover and decorate the top as you wish.
Ingredients for the filling
500gr of fresh or frozen spinach
200/250gr of tofu
4 spoonfuls of nutritional yeast
Grated vegan mozzarella
Salt
3 spoonfuls of chickpea flour mixed in 9 spoonfuls of water or veg milk.
Prepare the filling
Mince the tofu in a bowl while you cook the spinach in a little water.
Drain the spinach, add them to the tofu with the rest of the ingredients, salt to taste, mix using a food mixer until it’s quite creamy.
Butter the oven tray with vegan margarine, put the pastry so that it covers the whole tray. Fill it with the spinach cream, add some more cheese on top. (I use Violife grated).
Over the top with the 2nd part of the pastry. Pinch with a spoon and decorate it with lines of pastry or as you wish. Cook in pre-heated oven at 220°C for about 40min. Check until it reaches a golden brown colour then it’s ready to eat.
I enjoy pies both as a starter and as a main dish with some side vegetables.
Here is my veganised option, I have caramelised the onions substituting sugar with agave syrup. The result is a healthier option, equally delicious.
Ingredients: (for the onions)
5/6 big onions
5/6 spoonfuls of apple vinegar
12/14 spoonfuls of agave syrup
Salt
EVO oil
Water
How to make it
First step is to peel and chop the onions in slices. Fry the onions in a pan until they start to reach a light brown colour. Add enough water to cover them, salt to taste and let cook in slow heat.
Once the water has evaporated add 6 spoonfuls of agave syrup and the same amount of vinegar. Let cook together until there is no more liquid in the pan, then add the rest of agave syrup to caramelise. Stir until they are done.
To make the pie:
I use a vegan puff pastry from Lidl. As to the cheese I have made them either with Violife slices or with Violife Greek style cheese which is similar in taste to goat cheese.
Cut the pastry in squares, put some onion and some cheese inside then make the little pies. Cook until light brown in preheated oven at 220°C. Then serve hot.
This is a traditional dish from my hometown, Teramo, where all my family was born and grew.
My dad loved traditions especially when talking about food, my grandma Emma made the best scrippelle ever made on earth.
Of course my version of this traditional dish is vegan, plant based and especially cruelty free. Because if food isn’t cruelty free I don’t make or eat it!
To make this dish you basically need to make crêpes, you can find the recipe in my blog in the Need to Know.
Then fill each crêpe with some grated vegan cheese you like mixed with a pinch of Nutritional Yeast.
Roll the crêpe, place in a bowl or soup dish. Spead some nutritional yeast over the dish once all the crêpes are rolled then cover all the crepes with vegetable soup.
I usually make my own vegetable soup but it can be made with stock cube if you don’t have much time.
I’ve always loved pies because they’re a bit like pizza, you change the filling and they make a completely different dish. This is an idea more than a recipe, amazingly easy and quick to make if you use a ready made puff pastry base.
Ingredients : (for 4 pies)
1/2 kg of spinach (fresh or frozen)
2 slices of vegan cheese (I use Violife)
1 packet of vegan puff pastry (Lidl has a vegan option)
Salt
1/2 a cup of any vegetable milk
Instructions :
Boil the spinach in very little water then drain them well from all the water.
Put the pastry on an oven paper and cut it in 4 squares. Cut one of the slices of cheese in 4 and put one in the middle of each square.
Add a spoonful of spinach on top of the cheese, some salt and then another square of cheese on top.
Join the corners and shape the sides into shape.
Pre heat the oven and cook for 15 minutes at 220°C.
This lasagna is quite simple to make though really tasty. It can be made gluten free by using gluten free lasagna base and buckwheat flour for béchamel.
Ingredients: (for 4 people)
2/3 fresh broccoli
Lasagna sheets
6 fresh tomatoes
Salt
EVO oil
Grated vegan cheese
Check ingredients for béchamel sauce in sauces menu in this blog.
Instructions :
Boil the broccoli, mash with a fork in a bowl and add some salt.
Separately wash and chop the tomatoes then fry in a pan with some salt and olive oil to make a tomato sauce.
Once you have the béchamel sauce ready (find it in the sauces menu) you can start the layers in a baking tray.
Fist you need some béchamel at the bottom of the tray, then a lasagna sheet, add some tomato sauce then broccoli on top, pour some béchamel on top and start the layers again. Add a final layer of béchamel on top and finally grated cheese.
Cook in oven at 200°C for about 20 minutes, grill it during the last few minutes. Dish it and serve hot!
This is a very tasty dish and really simple to make. It is even tastier if you add some chilly spicy oil. (Check sauces for recipe).
The ingredients are all gluten free so it can be made into a gluten free dish by using buckwheat or legumes pasta.
Ingredients:
2 big aubergines
some black olives
100gr of dry tomatoes
EVO oil
salt
Wash the aubergines thoroughly and chop them in small dice or pieces.
Salt to taste and add oil and to the aubergines in a pan and cook on slow fire, stir until they become creamy. Add then the olives and dry tomatoes previously cut in small pieces. Cook altogether on really slow heat for 10 min….
Let's Vegan Out Loud 