A vegetarian recipes

Because Natasha is a vegetarian  we tend to have a few meat free meals a week. Geoff doesn't seem to mind and to be quite honest I much prefer them.


I didn't know what to cook yesterday. I was having a look around instagram and came across Jamie Oliver's post he had just made a pasta dish that looked simple and delicious.


I had all the ingredients in. So I thought I would give it a go.

It was lovely and very filling.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 15 g fresh thyme
• 250 g chestnut mushrooms
• 320 g cauliflower
• olive oil
• 200 g wholewheat penne
• 15 g fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 100 g ricotta cheese
• 1 lemon
• 20 g Parmesan cheese

TAP FOR INGREDIENTS

Method

1. Fill a large pan with salted water, place on a high heat and bring to the boil.
2. Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the garlic and onion, then halve, deseed and finely slice the chilli. Pick the thyme leaves.
3. Trim and slice three-quarters of the mushrooms. Trim the cauliflower, remove and discard the leaves, then chop the cauliflower florets and stalk into small chunks.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide saucepan on a medium heat, add the garlic, onion, chilli and thyme, then cook gently for 10 minutes, or until golden.
5. Add the sliced mushrooms and cauliflower, cover with a lid and cook gently for about 10 minutes, or until softened.
6. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until al dente – this means it’s cooked, but still has a bit of bite.
7. Meanwhile, pick and finely chop the parsley leaves. Trim and very finely slice the remaining mushrooms.
8. Once softened, mash the cauliflower mixture with a fork until broken down, but still with a bit of texture. Stir in the ricotta, then season to taste with sea salt, black pepper and the juice from half the lemon.
9. Reserving a cupful of the cooking water, drain the pasta and return it to the pan, off the heat. Tip in the sauce and stir well, adding splashes of the cooking water to loosen, if needed. Taste and season with salt, pepper and the remaining lemon juice.
10. Stir in the sliced raw mushrooms, most of the Parmesan cheese and half of the parsley leaves. Serve with the remaining chopped parsley and cheese sprinkled on top.

Tomorrows dinner is another Vegetarian offering.Apparently it's better the next day.  I can take this to work with me and have it later. 

Ingredients

For the Chickpea Meatloaf

• 2-14 oz. cans or 3 1/3 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup unflavored soy or almond milk
• 3 tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. liquid smoke
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

For the Maple Glaze

• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 tbsp. maple syrup
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tsp. paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly oil a 9 inch loaf pan.
2. Working in batches if needed, place all meatloaf ingredients into food processor bowl and pulse until chickpeas are broken up and ingredients are well mixed, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Do not overblend. If working in batches, transfer each batch to a large mixing bowl when complete and then mix by hand.
3. Press mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake 30 minutes.
4. While meatloaf bakes, stir glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.
5. Remove loaf from oven after 30 minutes and spoon glaze overtop of loaf. Bake another 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Recipe Notes

The longer this sits, the firmer it gets. If it initially feels a bit soft for your liking, let it sit a for a few minutes or prep it a day in advance and reheat the day of serving.

Heres mine cooling.