Recipe #97 Lentil Lasagna

Shopping list (6 portions)

• 500 gr lasagna sheets
• 1 medium onion
• 2x can plum tomatoes
• 2 medium carrots
• salt & pepper & dry parsley & cayenne pepper
• 175g dry red lentils
• 500 ml water + 1 stock cube
• 2 1/2 cups of soy milk
• 100 gr grated dairy free cheese (e.g. violife)
• 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons of plain flour

You'll need a food processor

Method 

Use the food processor with the chopping blade. Chop the carrots, and onion. Then add 1 can of tomatoes and blend. Transfer this into a medium sized saucepan and add the second can of tomatoes (either buy the tomatoes chopped already or roughly chop the plum tomatoes into big chunks).
Instead of 2 cans of tomatoes you can choose to buy Bolognese tomato sauce in a jar (700gr)

Add the lentils, the stock cube (usually I find the best to be Knorr Veg Stock Pot), the water (you can use the empty tomato can as a measuring cup), generous dash of salt, pepper, parsley and cayenne pepper.

Let this cook for around 20 minutes, some of the liquid should evaporate but not all as the liquid will be necessary for the lasagna sheets to cook.

Next: get an oven proof dish and layer first the lentil sauce, then 1 layer of pasta, then again lentil sauce and a pasta layer (repeat another set of layers if you still have sauce). Finish with a layer of pasta [in the picture below it's not the case so the tomato and the cheese blended]

Now for the bechamel: Heat the soy milk with the flour and nutritional yeast. Keep stirring ALL the time. Season with salt and pepper. When it is boiling add the cheese and keep stirring until the cheese is melted (at this point it will be a thick sauce so act quickly).

Pour this over the lasagna top layer of pasta and sprinkle with parsley.

Cook in the oven at 180-200 oC for around 30-40 minutes, when the pasta should be cooked.

Recipe #61 Fresh Guacamole

Ingredients 

1 very ripe avocado,

4 mini plum tomatoes,

1/4 onion (or less, if you don't like onion taste),

1 tablespoon of lemon juice,

1/2 teaspoon sea salt,

1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

Blend everything in a food processor. Serve with tortillas or Doritos ! Cheap, easy, healthy and fresh ! :) enjoy!

Recipe #59: (vegetarian) Quorn Farfalle

Shopping list

• 200gr Pasta (here I used Farfalle)
• 3 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 package of Mince Quorn "meat"
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml of vegetable stock
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Dry parsley
• 150gr baby spinach leaves

Method 

Cook the pasta: bring 1litre of water to boil, sprinkle with sea salt and throw in the pasta. Let it cook for about 3-4 minutes and drain the water. Keep about 2-3 tablespoons of the water in the pasta so that it won't get sticky - this way you'll have perfectly cooked and loose pasta.

For the sauce: chop the 1/2 onion finely and in a saucepan heat it in some olive oil. Add the frozen mince Quorn and season well. (2 teaspoons of black pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons of powder garlic, 3 teaspoons of dry parsley).Stir well till the Quorn isn't frozen anymore.

Add the can of chopped tomatoes and use this as a measuring glass: fill about half of the can with water and add it to the sauce. Now add a stock cube (like mentioned before I use Knorr Vegetable Stock Pot). Stir well, cover and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes on medium heat.

Add the washed baby spinach leaves and the pasta and let it cook on high heat about another 1-2 minutes.

You can serve like this or sprinkled with parmesan.

You will impress your guests with vegan pasta that looks and tastes like meat !

Recipe #46 Red Lentil Bolognese [vegan]

Shopping list (4 portions)

500 gr dry pasta

1 medium onion

1 can plum tomatoes

2 medium carrots

salt & pepper & dry parsley 

125gr dry red lentils

2 -4 tablespoons of olive oil

400 ml water + 1 stock cube

You'll need a food processor

Method 

Use the food processor with the chopping blade.

Chop the carrots, and onion. Transfer this into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Open the can of tomatoes and empty this into the food processor. Chop the can of tomatoes for a few seconds.

By now the onion and carrot should be cooked, cover it with the tomato sauce and 400ml water (I use the empty tomato can to measure). Season with salt, pepper and parsley (chilli or cayenne pepper optional, if you like it spicy) and add the dry lentils and the stock cube.

Cover the saucepan and let it cook for 20min on medium heat (stir from the time to time to avoid that the lentils stick to the saucepan ).

Now cook the pasta al dente, normally 6-8min depending on the heat. Once it is cooked, drain the water (reserve 2 tablespoons of the water), throw the drained pasta into the same saucepan where you cooked them in (and add the reserved water to avoid that the pasta sticks).

Serve with a generous quantity of lentil sauce. (you can sprinkle with parmesan cheese if vegetarian).

You can additionally add 5 min before the end some sliced mushrooms (150gr) like the picture below.

Recipe #45 Fettuccine and aubergine [vegan]

Shopping list (2 portions)

200 gr dry Fettuccine

1 onion

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 garlic clove

1 aubergine

1 can of chickpeas

salt & pepper

dry oregano & 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes

2 tablespoons of olive oil

You'll need a food processor

Method 

Cut the aubergine in half and place it on a oven proof dish. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Let it roast in the oven for 30min on 200o C.

Cook the pasta al dente. (because it will go back into the pan). Drain the water (keep 1/2 cup of this water and cover the pasta with this water. This will prevent the pasta from sticking until you need it)

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a sauce pan, place the chopped onion and garlic clove and let it get golden. Add the tomatoes (i chop them into smaller chunks in the food processor so it's like a runny passata). Season and add the oregano (be generous) and add the chili in (if you like it spicy you can add more or sprinkle in cayenne pepper). Throw in the chickpeas and aubergine (diced). Let it thicken a bit and then mix the pasta in. You can turn off the heat after 1-2 minutes. Done ! (you can serve with grated parmesan if you eat dairy)

Recipe #43 Avocado Pasta Sauce [vegan]

Shopping list (5 portions)

1/4 cup dairy free milk

Juice of 1 lime

2 garlic cloves

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1/2 onion

1 avocado

salt & pepper

10 leaves of mint

1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

You'll need a food processor

Method 

Place everything in the food processor and blend until it's smooth. Stir into the pasta, or filled tortellinis or whatever you like (over couscous).

Recipe #39 Vegetable Stew [vegan]

Shopping list (5 people)

4-5 leaves of savoy cabbage

2 cups of dry small pasta

1 onion

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1,75 liter of vegetable stock

seasoning (dry parsley, salt, black pepper)

olive oil (1/4 cup)

200 gr baby spinach leaves

1 carrot

pinch of sugar

Method 

Start by heating around 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big saucepan. Add the onion (chopped) and the carrot (sliced or chopped, I chopped it for this recipe).

Add the can of tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley and half the vegetable stock.

Now place in the pasta (here I used 2 types of pasta) and cabbage leaves.

Leave it to cook for some minutes and add the remaining olive oil and vegetable stock.

Taste it, if this tastes too much of tomato add a pinch of sugar to neutralize the tomato.

Put in the spinach (it cooks very fast) and cover the pan.

When the pasta is cooked it should be more of a stew than a soup.

it's a good recipe to use up bits and pieces you have in the fridge (such as loose vegetables, can vegetables as chickpeas) or small amounts of pasta you have in the cupboard.

Recipe #38 Eggplant & Mushroom Lasagna

Shopping list (2-3 people)

6-10 lasagna pasta sheets

1 eggplant

1 onion

150gr of mixed mushrooms

1/4 cup of olive oil

seasoning (dry parsley, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper)

1 can Chopped tomatoes

Grated Mozzarella (optional)

Method 

Dice the eggplant into small chunks. Chop the onion as small as you can or use a food processor.

Heat around 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan or wok and throw the eggplant in. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and then add chopped mushrooms (I used 1 portobello mushroom and a mix of some white mushrooms and some forest mushrooms). Add seasoning and some more olive oil. Cover with the tomato can and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Get a small oven proof dish and layer the vegetables with lasagna sheets. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and dry parsley if you like. Serves 2-3 people in a small oven dish.

Recipe #31 Vegan scrambled Tofu

Shopping list (for 2 people)

• 1 block of firm tofu
• 150gr sliced mushrooms
• 2 handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• salt and pepper

Method

Open the tofu and drain the water. With some paper towels drain the moist of the block. Place it into a bowl and mash it into small pieces, it will look like white scrambled eggs. Season with salt, pepper.

In a pan heat a bit of olive oil and throw in the onion; let them get slightly golden. Now throw in the mushrooms and after 2-3 minutes the tofu. Stir and after 1-2 minutes add the spinach leaves.