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 #74 Vegan Mac n Cheese

inspired by the Mac n Cheese recipe in "Mayim's Vegan Table"

Ingredients (2 people)

• 260 gr dry pasta
• 1 cup milk (soy or almond)
• 1 tablespoon of plain flour
• salt and pepper
• Nutritional yeast (about 4 teaspoons)
• 115 gr grated vegan cheese (such as violife pizza cheese)

Method

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, drain the water.

In a small saucepan heat the soy milk. Sift in the flour and keep stirring; now add the nutritional yeast and when it starts to boil stir in gently the grated cheese.
Stir until it's bubbly - then season with salt and black pepper.

Stir the pasta into the sauce and serve

OR

Place the pasta into an oven proof dish, cover with the sauce, mix everything. Finish with an extra sprinkle of nutritional yeast or breadcrumbs.

Place this into the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 180oC or until it's golden and crispy on the top.

Recipe #72 Green Lentil Gratin

Shopping list (6 portions)

• 150 gr dry green lentils
• 75 gr dry red lentils
• 1 stock cube vegetable
• 800 ml water
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 chopped carrots
• Pinch of salt, pepper, parsley, cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 250gr vegan cheese (violate pizza cheese)

Method

In a food processor chop the onions, carrots and garlic. Place them into a saucepan, on high flame with the olive oil, seasoning and let everything cook for some minutes. When the onions get soft place the lentils into the pan and cover with water and the vegetable cube. Turn the heat down to medium and cover. Let it cook for around 15-20min and stir from time to time so the lentils don't stick to the bottom.
When the lentils are cooked; grated half of the cheese into the bottom of an oven proof dish, cover with the lentils and grate the remaining cheese on the top. Place this into the oven for 15min on 200oC.

Recipe #67 Vegan Homemade Pizza

Shopping list

• 175 gr of plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 7 gr fast action yeast
• 120 ml warm water
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 tomato
• 3-6 mushrooms (depending on size)
• 1/2 onion
• 100 gr of Sheese
• 1/2 tube tomato pure
• garlic powder (1 teaspoon)
• oregano dry (1 teaspoon)
• cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
• freshly ground black pepper (2x turns)

Method

Start off 2h before with the dough.
Place the flour in a bowl, the yeast on one side of the flour, sugar and salt on the other (don't mix the salt and the yeast as this might kill the yeast), olive oil and water and carefully stir with a wooden spoon. Stir until it form a ball of dough that loosens from the bowl. Cover with a cloth and leave it to rest for at least 1h30. It should grow in size.

In a small saucepan add the tomato pure, dash of water, garlic powder, oregano and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper and heat it up until the paste is smooth.

Grate the sheese. I used the cheddar style sheese:

take the dough and place a bit of flour on your hands, rolling pin and clean surface. Roll the dough very thin and round shaped. Make the edges by rolling a big the dough up, place it on a pizza oven tray or some aluminum foil and bake for 8 min at 220o C
Take this out and place the tomato pure paste, then the sheese, 1/2 red pepper sliced, tomato sliced, onion rings and mushroom slices. Sprinkle with oregano and bake for another 10min at 220o C.

This should give you a big pizza, enough for a meal of 2 people.