Better than you can ever imagine: Vegan Cabbage Bolognese Sauce

This is not a quick recipe, but require slow cooking, so if you are in a rush just look at the pictures :-).

There are several vegan Bolognese sauces around, mostly using soy or fake mince, and some with lentils, but I wanted to try one with cabbage, which is not a veggie I particularly like myself, but it is highly nutritious. It came out better that I hoped!

Ingredients

Half a cabbage

1 large carrot

2 sticks of celery with leaves

1 large onion

1 garlic clove

A few Italian parsley leaves

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 glass wine (white or red)

1-2 tbsp tomato puree

1 l vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

more extra virgin olive oil to serve

With a food processor finely chop the vegetables, then put in a pan with the olive oil and sauté for a few minutes. Then add the wine and stir well. Add the tomato puree, cover and cook slowly, stirring from time to time and adding the vegetable stock little by little. Simmer for one to two hours, the more the better, I think I went over two hours. I started in the afternoon but by the time I took the last photos it was dark, so the images are a bit blurry, sorry!

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste (I like it with quite a bit of black pepper!), then use to top your pasta, drizzling with more extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy! This can also be used to fill pies, or for a gluten free variation try it on polenta! Yummy!

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Super quick vegetable risotto

Quick Risotto di verdura

Ingredients

1 small onion

1 small carrot

1 celery stalk with leaves

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp chopped parsley

400 g carnaroli rice

1 glass white wine

1.5 vegetables stock

1 portion of frozen spinach

4 tbsp frozen peas

Chop the onion, carrot and celery, then sauté with olive oil. Add the parsley and rice, then a glass of white wine. Add the vegetable stock ladle by ladle, stirring constantly. Halfway through cooking add the spinach, and 5 minutes before finishing add the peas. Serve hot.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tofu Scaloppine with wine and parsley, and thin roast potatoes

Tofu Scaloppine with wine and parsley, and thin roast potatoes

I used 4 dried blocks of Japanese tofu: first I let it rest in 500 ml of warm vegetable broth to rehydrate, then I cut each piece into two thinner slices (scaloppine must be thin) and pressed them well to get the extra stock our (keep it, you will need it later!) and flatten them a bit more. I passed the slices in flour, and then placed them in a pot with plenty of sizzling melted vegetable margarine. A quick sauté on both sides, and then I added a good glass of white wine. Once the wine was absorbed and the scaloppine had been turned around a few times I scraped the bottom of the pan (you may need to remove the scaloppine to do this, I didn't) and added the leftover vegetable broth. I simmered everything until I had a thick sauce, then I added salt and pepper to taste, and plenty of (bought) chopped parsley.

To accompany the scaloppine I made some thinly cut roast potatoes, (simply brushed with olive oil and salt only and roasted until crisp) and it was such a nice, vegetarian, main!! 

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus, mange tout and peas with champagne

Sauté one finely chopped shallot with a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Add the stalks, chopped, of a dozen asparagus, stir for a couple of minutes and then add a glass of leftover bubbly and an organic veggie cube (I only use Rapunzel). Let the wine evaporate then add two cups of frozen peas. Add more bubbly if liquid is needed. When the peas are cooked add the asparagus tips and some mange tout or sugar snap peas. Stir quickly to lightly blanch the asparagus tip and sugar snap peas (you still want them very green and crispy). A feast of different textures and greens, and a perfect side veg.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Champagne Zucchini

I made this a while ago but I didn't find the time to post it. I know that zucchini are not in season now, but many of you live in the Northern Hemisphere, so you may appreciate the idea. FYI I didn't buy Champagne especially to make this :-), I just had some leftover, and I didn't want to waste it.

Sauté the zucchini and a shallot with one tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt for a few minutes, then add the champagne (I had just over a glass).

Don't add water, between the champagne and the water from the zucchini you should have enough! Keep cooking and stir often until all liquid has absorbed and the zucchini are soft (about 20 minutes). Adjust with salt and pepper and finish with some fresh chopped parsley. I really liked it, and now I know what I will do if I ever get some leftover champagne again. Or any other bubbly :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Portobello Mushroom Escalopes

I have just found out about Vegan MoFo, not sure if I have to register or what, but anyway, I am happy to post lots of Vegan Recipes this month! I will start with this one:

Portobello Mushroom Escalopes

If you are a vegan then mushrooms can be one of your super-foods (among many other super foods, of course)! 

Clean the Portobello mushrooms with a damp cloth. Heat some olive oil with a few peeled garlic cloves, then place the mushrooms in the pan, top side down. Move them around with a spatula, so that they don't stick to the pan, but do not turn them. When they start to brown at the bottom sprinkle a little salt, and then add a glass of wine. Cover and let them simmer on low for about 20 minutes. They should put out lots of water, but if not add just a little water, if they become too dry. After 20 minutes turn them over and let more of the juices come out. With a sieve add one tsp of flour (or corn flour if you are gluten free) and stir: the juices, mixed with the flour, should make a nice gravy/sauce. Taste for salt, and then add plenty of freshly chopped parsley. Serve with polenta, or potatoes, or cous cous, or even in a bun as a veggie burger.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pears cooked in red wine

I had some leftover red wine and so I decided to make a quick dessert. Peel 4 firm pears, but leave the stalk on. In a pot place one glass of wine and one glass of water, add 3 tbsp of sugar and one star anise. If you don't have star anise you can use a stick of cinnamon. Bring to boil and then lower the pears in. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes (depending on how firm your pears are, they should not mush!

 Remove the pears from the pot and reduce the syrup until is thick. Pour over the pears and serve. They actually turned out redder than the photo shows, but it was late in the evening and dark, and the kitchen light made them look orange!

And now a little cameo: My cat Marameo always finds different spots to sleep in, that shelf is where I usually keep my scales, and when it was vacant Marameo took her chance and grabbed the spot! I thought that she looked very sweet :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

How to Make a Vegan Bolognese Sauce

Usually I don't use this kind of soy meat, I rather make a bolognese sauce with lentils, much easier, but I saw the packet in the supermarket, and I like to make lasagne with bolognese sauce (please do not spell it bolognaise!), so I went for it.

I soaked the textured soy with 500 ml of vegetables stock, it tripled in size.

In the meantime I cleaned one large carrot, 2 celery stalks with leaves, 2 shallots, 2 garlic cloves and some Italian parsley.

I chopped the veggies and sautéed them with olive oil,

I added the textured soy and a glass of red wine, then 1 800 ml can of Italian chopped tomatoes, and 3 tbsp of tomato puree. At this point I let the sauce simmer for a couple of hours, adding salt and black pepper from time to time, tasting it to see if it needed more. Soy protein is very low in fat, so I added more olive oil because bolognese needs a percentage of fat to taste good.

It also needed more wine, but I finished the bottle. My husband had opened a nice 10 years old Australian red, to air. I put some of it in too, even if he looked at me badly. That wine was to good to cook with!

But just a little... and it made the sauce so nice :-). In the end he agreed with me, and then the wine needed to be drunk, or used! No other herbs or spices are used in the traditional bolognese sauce, in fact the cuisine of Bologna uses very little or no herbs, so please don't add oregano, chili, etc. to a bolognese sauce: go for more red wine, black pepper, salt, and (as this is vegan) olive oil to enhance the taste. If you don't use wine add more tomato puree.

Ready!!! Just don't use it with spaghetti please: spaghetti bolognese is not right, use it for tagliatelle, lasagne, or short pasta :-). Can also be used to fill pies or with polenta.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Smoked paprika tofu and eggplants with saffron rice

This main is incredibly easy to make and yet it taste so good that everyone will think that you have spent hours making it!

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry it with olive oil and garlic until golden. Set aside. Cut the eggplants (I used the thin Asian type) into halves and sweat with salt for 30 minutes or so. Rinse. Heat the oil again in the pan, add more garlic, and sauté the eggplants for a few minutes, then cover with a lid and and cook them in their own steam. When they are nearly done add the tofu, 1 tsp of smoked paprika and smoked slat (I used Maldon). Add a glass of white wine and stir. Cover and turn the heat off.

Wash the rice and cook by absorption, when it is ready add the saffron and stir. No need to make a risotto here, or to add salt: the rice will taste of saffron and nothing else, and will go well with the salty, spicy and smoky flavour of the tofu and eggplants.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©