Wrapped in Pastry

Wrapped in Pastry by Leigh Drew was released at the most perfect time for me, just before Mothers Day. My fellows were totally aware that I was planning on buying this cookbook and bought it for me as a gift. The man ordered a signed copy and was stunned when he received a personalised signed copy addressed to him with a message to "cook with no fear". The message had us in stitches of laughter as nothing could be further from the truth!

We had a fairly quiet day on Sunday so I jumped straight into making some of Leigh's recipes. I don't have a lot of experience with pastry making although I do love eating it. Ready made puff pastry sheets are usually  my preferred option for when the pastry cravings hit. I started with lemon and passionfruit tarts which used a sweet shortcrust pastry. The pastry was a breeze to put together although rolling it out after the resting period took me a while. The lemony filling required little effort and as I don't own any tart cases, I made mini tarts using a muffin tray to make the cases. They were really lovely with a wonderful tangy flavour from the lemons, just my type of sweet.

I wasn't quite up to the challenge of making another type of pastry that day yet I really wanted to try the chickpea, leek and mushroom pies. My solution was to make individual pot pies, placing the filling into ramekins and popping a puff pastry lid on top. They were a perfect way to get my boys interested in chickpeas which they aren't usually that keen on. I think the flavour of the leeks in the delicious creamy filling won them over.

I had already tried Leigh's sausage rolls a few days after she posted the recipe as a sneak peek. I've been a big fan of the where's the beef sausage roll recipe for a long time and love how simple it is to put the filling together, the only problem is that it's not suitable for people with nut allergies. This was the first vegan sausage roll recipe I was attracted to that didn't contain nuts so I had to try it. Even though they took considerably longer to make, it was worth the effort as they tasted fantastic and entirely different to ones we are so used to.  

Wrapped in Pastry has a great mix of sweet and savoury vegan recipes, with gluten free options for the sweet and regular shortcrust pastry. It only contains 20 recipes so I won't be posting any of the recipes on my blog as I would like to support an Aussie vegan cookbook author, instead I encourage you to order a copy from Aduki.

Burmese curry

A Thai/Burmese restaurant in our neighbourhood gave us an introduction to Burmese food many years ago, namely Burmese curries. They include many similar ingredients to Thai curries although they don't typically use coconut milk or kaffir lime. I used to reproduce one at home with the aid of a cookbook recipe that would have my boys raving that it tasted exactly the same as the one down the street. These curries were always meat based so it's something I've been keen to replicate with the aid of some mock meat.

This was in fact my second attempt at a mock meat version. When I first gave this a shot and it didn't taste quite right, I realised that I had used the wrong recipe. There are a couple of Burmese curry recipes in my cookbooks and I had completely forgotten which one I used to make. This time it turned out much closer to how we can recall it tasting although it still wasn't perfect in my mind. It was a dry curry rather than saucy which may have been due to using mock meat; that stuff really seems to absorb a lot of liquid.

People who aren't fond of mock meat may find that this recipe works well with tempeh which is something I will try at some stage. The amount of chillies could also be decreased to suit personal spice preferences. It was perfectly spiced for us which means it could be too spicy for others with lower heat tolerance. It's also quite a simple meal to put together. Preparing the paste is the most labour intensive task and once that's out of the way, it's just a matter of simmering with the occasional stir.


Burmese Curry (Adapted from Taste of Thailand by Kit Chan)

3 dried red chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
3 small shallots, roughly chopped
2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons roughly chopped ginger
1 teaspoon roughly chopped galangal
2 teaspoons Golden Mountain Thai thin soy sauce (or use soy sauce)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
300g "beef" chunks
1 cup water
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind puree

Pound the chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and galangal into a rough paste with a mortar and pestle. Add one teaspoon of the Golden Mountain Thai thin soy sauce and the brown sugar and continue to pound until it the paste is relatively smooth.

Heat a pan over medium heat, add the "beef" chunks and the paste and stir frequently for 5 minutes. Stir in a cup of water along with the turmeric and dark soy sauce. Cook over a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The curry will be quite dry after this time.

Add the remaining teaspoon of Golden Mountain Thai thin soy sauce and tamarind puree and stir well. Serve with steamed rice and stir-fried Asian greens.

Smoky cauliflower and tofu bacon soup

The weather has been cold enough for weeks yet it's taken me this long to get back into the swing of making soup. There have been heaps of leftovers from dinners recently to satisfy our lunch requirements so there hasn't been any need to cook up a batch of soup, until now.

I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge and looked up a recipe I posted last year for a creamy cauliflower and tofu bacon soup which was delicious. After scanning the ingredient list I wanted to make a few changes so it ended up being a slightly different version. Last time I used some Tofutti better than cream cheese and in hindsight didn't think it was really necessary as blended cauliflower is very creamy on it's own. For this version, I ditched the Tofutti, increased the quantity of nutritional yeast flakes and added some red lentils and smoked paprika. Smoked paprika was something I mentioned in my previous post as being a potential addition so I took my own advice on board!

When I was seasoning the soup at the end, I remembered Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe had used leftover tofu bacon marinade in a pumpkin soup she had made. Unfortunately I recalled this after adding some salt and only used a little as a final touch. Never mind, the rest of that marinade went into some refried beans on another night which gave them a lovely flavour.

Which soup did we like the best? Well, it's difficult to say as this one is fresh in my mind and the others don't have the best memories when it comes to food. This soup seemed just as creamy and the smokiness from the paprika, marinade and tofu bacon melded together wonderfully. I prefer these ingredients over the previous version which means it's the winner for me.


Smoky cauliflower and tofu bacon soup (Adapted from my other recipe)

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small onions, diced or 2 leeks, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red lentils
5 cups vegetable stock
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon left-over tofu bacon marinade (optional, or bump up the quantity of smoked paprika)
8 slices precooked tofu bacon, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped roughly, for garnish

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot and saute the onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute then mix through the lentils. Pour in the vegetable stock and add the cauliflower florets. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes until the cauliflower florets and lentils are tender.

Transfer the contents of the pot to a blender and process in batches until very smooth, alternatively use a stick blender to process the soup in the pot. Return the blended soup to the cooking pot and stir in the nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, salt, marinade and 6 slices of chopped tofu bacon. Reheat on a low temperature and season with additional salt (if required) and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat the remaining 2 slices of chopped tofu bacon in the microwave for 30 seconds. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish with tofu bacon, parsley and freshly ground black pepper.

Nostralis Wholemeal Vegetarian Pizza

Nostralis has been on my radar to try for quite some time as it's the closest veg*n pizza place to my house. On a Saturday evening when the man and I were on our way home from doing errands, he wanted to know what was for dinner. As he didn't seem enthused with any of the quick meals that were on offer, I suggested that we try Nostralis.

I wasn't feeling very hungry until we walked through the door and were overwhelmed with the glorious aroma of pizzas. It's been such a long time since we last had pizza from a store (at least 18 months!) so my stomach changed it's tune immediately. When the pizzas were ready we had a 15 minute drive home yet we couldn't quite wait that long to try some. After stuffing down several slices of pizza in the car, we had to put a lid on it (pardon the pun) and bring some home to the young man who was waiting patiently with the oven preheated.

The Vegie pizza was similar to what standard pizza places would offer on a standard vegetarian pizza; onion, mushrooms, capsicum, olives. It had a substantial covering of tomato on the base and also included a decent amount of garlic and herbs which gave it so much flavour.

The Mexican pizza was topped with beans, onion, capsicum and chilli. The chilli kick in this was nice although I was disappointed with the lack of tomato in the base.

We always used to love a Margherita and couldn't pass up one of our old favs. This was just the way we like them to be - tomatoey, cheesy and herby.

Nostralis has 20 veg pizzas to choose from which are all made with wholemeal bases. Vegan cheese (cheezly) is available on request as are gluten free bases. We played it fairly safe with our selections on this visit, the vindaloo pizza sounded really interesting although we weren't sure if we would like the banana and sultanas that came with it. Maybe we'll be more daring next time around...  

I'm also looking forward to visiting over warmer months as there is a huge park over the road which would be perfect for enjoying pizzas in!


Nostralis doesn't seem to have received many blogger reviews. In the Mood for Noodles gave it the thumbs up twice a couple of years ago which is most likely how I found out about it!


Nostralis Wholemeal Vegetarian Pizza
55 Hawthorn Road, North Caulfield
9528 4961
Open Tues-Sun 5:30-10pm
Pick up only and payment by cash only

Broccoli dal

This may not look like the most attractive meal in the world although it's delicious flavour has been enough to warrant this being repeated several times and that's saying a lot in this house! The concept of a creamy broccoli dal in Vegan Yum Yum interested me when I first purchased the book even though the amount of spices seemed lacking. I originally trialled the recipe with double the amount of spices which was nice yet I felt it could use some further improvement and began tinkering further.

During my second attempt, I discovered that my cumin seeds had run out. I used ground cumin instead and was on a kalonji/nigella seed craze at the time and added some as well. As you can see from the photo, I'm still hooked on these tasty seeds and also find them to be a tasty addition to saffron rice. I wasn't expecting the meal to be such a hit because a plate of dal doesn't usually excite the others as much as me. I didn't record quantities of ingredients used that time and it's been a challenge to win them over with this meal since.

It has taken a few attempts to rediscover the version that wowed my dal sceptics and I still received minor criticism this time that the broccoli to dal ratio was slightly low which was most likely due to using small heads of broccoli. My recommendation is to use medium or large sized heads of broccoli in order for the broccoli to work it's magic into this meal. Other notable tweaks I have made to the original recipe include the addition of some ground coriander and using blended cashews in place of soy milk to provide a thicker creamier texture. I also prefer to throw roughly chopped broccoli in the pot and blend the whole lot briefly at the end rather than finely chopping the broccoli at the start and serving the dal in a chunkier style.

The recipe below makes a decent sized pot of dal which would be enough to feed four without a side dish. I've been in the habit of making at least 2 curries when we have Indian food so there are always heaps of leftovers, as they reheat wonderfully and taste even better after the flavours have had a chance to meld further. We enjoyed broccoli dal on this occasion with spiced vegetable patties from Holy Cow and have previously loved it with "butter chicken" too.


Broccoli dal (Adapted from Vegan Yum Yum)

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon kalonji/nigella seeds
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Indian chilli powder/cayenne pepper
1 cup red lentils
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 medium-sized heads of broccoli
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat the peanut oil in a large saucepan and add the black mustard and kalonji seeds. When the seeds begin to sizzle, stir through the onion and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and stir for a minute, then add the turmeric, coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper. After another minute, stir through the lentils then pour in the water. Add the salt and roughly chopped broccoli stalks and florets to the pot. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the lentils are soft, about 20-25 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan into a blender. Process the mixture and when the broccoli has broken down, pour everything back into the saucepan and return to low heat. Rinse out the blender and add the cashews with the water. Blend the cashews until they become smooth and creamy and pour this into the saucepan. Add the garam masala, lemon juice and additional seasoning, to taste.

Tofu with adobe paste

When I ordered the TofuXpress I was only expecting to receive a pressing tool, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the accompanying instruction booklet also contained a few recipes. There was one recipe that immediately stood out from the rest but I had so many other things lined up to try with my new tool that it was forgotten for a while.

The man and I decided it was time to have refried beans this week as it's something we love, the trouble is the young man is not so much a fan. Viva Vegan contains a few sections which gives you ideas for matching different elements and when I repeatedly saw tofu paired with beans, it sounded like a great idea to get the young man enthused. I still hadn't tried the Tofu with adobe paste recipe from the TofuXpress booklet which seemed like the perfect match to complete our meal.

I made a few alterations to the marinade, reducing the quantities of ingredients down a smidgen due to the size difference in my block of tofu. Another minor tweak I made was to cut back on some of the sweet paprika and add a bit of smoked paprika. The lime, garlic and chilli flavours really stood out in the marinade and my initial thought was that it would be slightly too spicy. If the tofu was eaten on it's own that could have been the case. After it was wrapped in a tortilla with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, guacamole and cashew cream we found ourselves reaching for the hot sauce for some extra kick.

The young man hasn't been that enthused about Mexican food previously because he really isn't a lover of beans. This meal was requested by everyone to be repeated regularly so I'm happy to have found a way that we can all enjoy Mexican food.


Tofu with adobe paste (Adapted from the TofuXpress recipe booklet)

350g firm tofu
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
zest of 1 lime
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Drain the tofu and press it using paper towels and heavy weights or a tofu press for at least 30 minutes.

Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl/shallow dish. Cut the tofu into small cubes and toss them well in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and spray lightly with olive oil. Add the tofu and cook in batches over medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring often until the tofu is browned on all sides.

Enjoy in tortillas with refried beans, guacamole, cashew cream, hot sauce and salad toppings of your choice.

Easter beans

Easter is normally associated with indulging in chocolate and hot cross buns, this year I went against the norm and switched my focus to beans! Over the long weekend I turned into a bean prepping machine in an attempt to diminish my reliance on tinned beans. Last year I was in a wonderful habit of planning out my meals for the week which meant that I would be organised enough to prepare beans from scratch more often than not. I still plan meals to a certain extent although I don't have a hard and fast rule about what we are going to eat on a given night. This provides more flexibility to cook what I feel like on the day but tinned beans have been the only viable option when I decide halfway through the day that beans will be on the menu that night.

Preparing beans from scratch has always given me a lot more satisfaction than simply opening a tin and rising off the brine. The process never fails to fascinate me, particularly observing the vast amount of water the little dried beans manage to absorb after the initial soaking period. Dried beans have several benefits over tinned ones as they are a lot more economical, use less packaging and there is no concern about controversial toxins like BPA in tin linings leeching into your food.

I've read about freezing batches of cooked beans before and with some spare room in my freezer it was the perfect time to make it happen. My plan was to cook up five batches of beans; kidney, pinto, black, cannellini and chickpeas. I ended up cooking an extra batch of kidney beans because we ate most of them straight away and I also prepped a batch of black-eyed beans when I found some hiding in the pantry.

Preparing a batch of beans takes a bit of time from start to end although very little of it requires any interaction. After rinsing the beans, leave them to soak in a bowl filled with plenty of water overnight or at least 8 hours. Rinse the beans in a colander with fresh cold water, place them in a pot and cover them up with about 5cm of cold water. Bring them to the boil and after a couple of minutes scoop off as much of the white foamy stuff as possible with a spoon. Turn the heat back to low, pop the lid on and let them simmer away. The time they take to become tender varies between the type of beans as well as their age. I usually start testing after they have been simmering for about an hour by removing one that looks firmer than the others, allowing it to cool slightly and then biting it in half. If the bean isn't totally soft and tender, I continue the cooking process and retest in another 10-15 minutes.

Many beans were consumed over the course of the long weekend too. We enjoyed kidney beans in chilli non carne, curried tofu scramble and a Thai red lentil chilli stew from PPK (this was the recipe that taught me a lesson about US chilli powder last year but this time around I didn't find the stew spicy enough). I also cooked up a saucier version of cheater baked beans from Veganomicon, a black-eyed bean hummus adapted from Appetite for Reduction and still wound up with the equivalent of more than 20 tins of a variety of beans in the freezer.

Easter wasn't totally about healthy eating as I did enjoy revisiting Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe's hot cross buns recipe which only needs a couple of simple ingredient substitutions to make them vegan. Even though the crosses didn't work out as well as the batch I made last year, I was thrilled with how delicious they tasted.

Black-eyed bean hummus (Adapted from Appetite for Reduction)

1 x 400g tin black eyed beans
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of half a lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped roughly
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper
chopped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

Place all ingredients (except the parsley) in a food processor bowl and pulse until combined, scraping the ingredients down the sides a few times. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve garnished with parsley.

Pista burfi

Last Saturday, I attended at vegan potluck at Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe's house with a theme of green food. It was lovely to catch up with the bloggers I had met before, meet some new bloggers, share so much wonderful food and have great conversations. An added bonus was Sylvia, Johanna's gorgeous daughter who was so shy at first and came out of her shell towards the end to entertain us all.

I had a couple of ideas for a green dessert to bring but it wasn't until the day before that I totally changed my mind and thought of making an Indian sweet called Pista burfi which is a pistachio fudge. I made a double batch of the the burfi as I also had a family curry dinner to attend that night so it served two purposes.

Although the ingredients for this fudge are rather basic, I found plenty of variations between the ingredients and techniques used when searching for recipes. Some recipes used milk or milk powder which gave them a lighter colour. I wanted a darker green colour so the recipe I ended up following most closely was the one that didn't include any dairy which meant there was no need for vegan substitutes.

All of the recipes I saw that didn't use dairy called for a sugar syrup to be made. The method for making the syrup and testing is readiness was somewhat perplexing. It was stated in every recipe I read that the syrup would be ready when it reached a one thread consistency. Huh? This was a totally foreign concept to me that was explained in this article. Hopefully I have managed to convey this part clearly enough in my adaptation of the recipe for other people to follow. The alternative and simpler method is to use a candy thermometer and wait for the syrup to reach 110C.

Blanching the pistachios and removing their skins was a tiresome job. I don't think I would bother doing this next time as their slight dampness meant that the food processor didn't do the greatest job of chopping them finely. Dry roasting the pistachios was another approach around that I would be inclined to try next time.

I was expecting the prepared fudge to harden very quickly, when that didn't happen I thought that my efforts were going to be wasted. The tray was plonked in the freezer (with my fingers crossed) whilst I tidied up and the short chilling time did it wonders. I wasn't confident if the texture of the fudge would remain firm enough after cutting it into squares so I opted to store the burfi in the fridge.

Pista burfi is a perfect sweet for me as it isn't over the top in sweetness and I do happen to love pistachios. I'll have to keep my eye out for a candy thermometer to make the process simpler next time!


You can read other posts about the potluck at Green Gourmet Giraffe, Laws of the Kitchen, Soya & Chocolat and where's the beef.

Pista burfi (Adapted from Chitra Amma's Kitchen)

2 cups pistachios

1 1/2 cups raw sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

dairy-free margarine, for greasing

Place the pistachios in a bowl, then cover with boiling water. Drain in a colander after one minute then rinse well with cold water. Peel the skins off the pistachios and dry with a clean tea towel. Set aside about a dozen pistachios for the topping and chop them coarsely. Place the rest of the pistachios in a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped.

Mix the sugar and water together in a small saucepan and place on a medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook, stirring more frequently after it has reached boiling point.

If you don't own a candy thermometer, test the thickness of the syrup every so often by scooping out a bit with the wooden spoon. Allow the syrup to cool for 10-15 seconds, then dab your forefinger into the syrup. Press your thumb and forefinger together, then separate them slowly. When a single thin thread forms between your fingers without breaking, the syrup is ready. Alternatively, if you have a candy thermometer, wait for the temperature to reach 110C.

Turn the heat down to low then stir through the ground pistachios and cardamon. Continue to cook, stirring all the time until the mixture begins to leave the side of the pan. Transfer the mixture onto a baking tray greased well with dairy free margarine. Spread into a square shape and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios. Cover with baking paper and use a rolling pin to gently press the chopped nuts into the mixture. Remove the baking paper, then place the tray in the fridge or freezer until it just sets. Cut into diamond or square pieces using a sharp knife. Store in a container at room temperature or keep refrigerated for a firmer texture.

Thai chickpea patties

I love when using up remnants in the fridge results in a delicious meal. This one began with asian greens I felt like having as a side dish rather than a tofu/veg combination as we had eaten tofu the night before.  After brainstorming what to serve the greens with, I was drawn to Kari from Bite-sized thoughts recent Thai vegetarian cakes recipe.

Kari used mashed butter beans in her cakes and recommended that other white beans or chickpeas could also be a good choice. Chickpeas sounded good to me until I started mashing them with a fork! I have little patience when it comes to mashing beans so they ended up going in the food processor with the potatoes which saved me some time and sanity. I was pleased with this decision because the mixture turned out so smooth, it reminded me of mum's salmon patties which I used to eat doused in tomato sauce as I never liked seafood flavours although I did love their texture.

I swapped the lemon for kaffir lime leaves as we have a small tree growing in our garden and I love to use the fresh leaves whenever appropriate. One of the young man's favourite condiments is sweet chilli sauce so I removed this from the recipe and planned to serve it on the side instead. A few other ingredients were added in it's place to give the patties some spice and I also used some baking powder as I recalled enjoying the fluffiness that it brought to the healthy baked falafels I made from Appetite for Reduction. The pattie mixture turned out nice and firm and I had no qualms about them falling apart as they were frying.

The young man and I loved these patties, the man liked them but mentioned not being a huge fan of the kaffir lime flavour which I found odd as it doesn't seem to bother him in a Thai curry. The kaffir lime was a highlight for me and I preferred to eat the patties plain rather than with sweet chilli sauce. The man tried all sorts of condiments I thought were odd and decided that he liked them best with my tomato and chilli relish whereas the young man was more than happy with his beloved sweet chilli sauce.      

The recipe below was just enough to satisfy the three of us so I would recommended doubling it for a larger crowd. I'm sure that leftovers would taste great too!  

Thai chickpea patties (Adapted from Bite-sized thoughts)

150g small waxy potatoes
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 birds eye chilli, minced
2 kaffir lime leaves, minced
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornflake crumbs (I normally use fresh breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely
olive oil, for frying

Peel the potatoes and place into a saucepan full of boiling water. Cook for 15 minutes or until they are soft and then drain. Allow to cool slightly.

Place the potatoes and chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until the chickpeas are completely broken down. Transfer the chickpea/potato mixture to a bowl and stir through the rest of the ingredients thoroughly, except for the olive oil.

Roll the mixture into patties of your desired size with your hands, place them on a plate and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Heat some oil in a frying pan, add the patties and cook them in batches on medium heat until browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Serve with sweet chilli sauce, another condiment of your choice or enjoy them plain as I did.

Pizza and pie

Diet, Dessert & Dogs is a fantastic blog full of innovative recipes which has provided me with a few winning meals in recent times (thanks Ricki!). Cindy from where's the beef posted about Ricki's beetroot pepperoni last year which I bookmarked immediately as it sounded fascinating. K from In the Mood for Noodles had also given it the thumbs up so I was very keen to try it. 

It's simple to prepare although it takes a bit of time to cook as the thin slices of beetroot are baked in a marinade for about an hour to absorb the delicious salty, smoky flavours. I followed Cindy's advice about adding a bit more spice to the marinade by increasing the paprika and adding some cayenne pepper. I made the pizza fairly plain to accentuate the flavour of the beetroot pepperoni, topping it with a mixture of tomato paste and pesto, onions, mushrooms and cheezly. When the man discovered my plan to put beetroot on a pizza he wasn't enthused at all but he thoroughly enjoyed the pizza, as did the young man and I.  

Cottage pie was one of the first vegetarian recipes I ever prepared back when we were thinking about converting to vegetarianism. The original recipe I tried was sourced from taste.com.au which has a lentil, vegetable and tomato base. A variation of this recipe became a semi-regular meal for many years as the man and young man regard it highly and request it often.

It has never been a favourite meal of mine so when the young man began to grow tired of the old cottage pie, I decided it was time for a revamp. I couldn't resist using some faux ground meat made of cauliflower and nuts in the base, this is another wonderful recipe from Diet, Dessert and Dogs I have used in various ways several times before. This meal turned out to be another winner which is likely to be repeated in the future.

There is one other recipe of Ricki's which I would love to tell you about, alas I didn't take a photo at the time. This will have to wait for another post!


Beetroot pepperoni (Adapted from Diet, Dessert & Dogs and where's the beef)

2 medium sized beetroots
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vegan beef stock powder
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/8 teaspoon ground dried sage

Preheat oven to 170C. Peel the beetroots and slice thinly. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a baking tray then add the beetroot slices to the tray, ensuring they are coated with the marinade. Spread the beetroot slices in a single layer.

Bake for 20 minutes then flip the slices over, basting them in the marinade. Keep baking until the slices start to look dry and curl up at the edges, flipping and basting the slices in 10 minute intervals. The total baking time took mine almost an hour.


Cottage pie (Featuring ground "meat" from Diet, Dessert & Dogs)

1 kg potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon dairy-free margarine
soy milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, diced
1/2 quantity ground meat
1 1/2 cups vegan beef stock or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 180C. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes to the pot and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Drain the potatoes in a colander. Mash the potatoes with the dairy-free margarine and enough soy milk to create your desired consistency.

While the potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook until softened. Stir through the garlic for a minute, then mix in the carrot. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally then add the ground meat, beef stock, worchestershire sauce and tomato paste. Simmer covered for 10-15 minutes until the carrots have softened then stir through the peas. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the ground meat mixture in the bottom of a 20cm x 20cm casserole dish. Cover with the mashed potato and smooth it out to the edges so it entirely covers the filling. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the mashed potatoes are starting to brown.