Vegan Vegetable Stew with Pesto

This dish is somewhere between a soup and a stew. It is choc full of vegetable goodness and is super delicious. I just love it!

Farm Stand Vegetable Stew with Basil Pesto
(Vegan Planet)

Ingredients:

For the Stew:
2 ears corn
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large red onion leek, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
8 ounces green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large, ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium sized zucchini, diced
1 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch half moons

For the Pesto (there is a recipe for pesto in the book too but this is our own version, if you want you can just use store bought)
Fresh basil (1/4 bunch)
40g pine nuts
2 tablespoons ground linseed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Method:

For the pesto: Toast the pine nuts in a non stick pan, over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until browned.

Grind the basil, oil and salt in a mortar and pestle until it is a paste, add pine nuts and linseed and grind until pesto is at desired consistency.

For the Stew: Cut the kernels from the corn and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion leek, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, green beans, tomatoes, stock and salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the zucchini, yellow squash and corn kernels and cook until tender, about 10 minutes, adding mores stock if the stew becomes too dry. When ready to serve, remove from the heat and stir in the pesto.

We serve this with pita bread, baked in the oven until crispy.

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Ratatouille with Potato Gratin (vegan)

Oh happy day! Friday is here! There was once a time – believe it or not – that dear chef and I would spend a Friday slugging down a bottle of vodka and partying the night away, these days our pleasures are much more modest (and require a lot less recovery time). Tonight’s pleasure: Vegan Ratatouille with Potato Gratin, another bare-chested chef creation.

Ingredients:

For the Potato Gratin:
6 sebago potatoes
1 thyme sprig
750ml soy milk
1/2 cup linseed (ground)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper

For the Ratatouille
1 leek
2 red capsicum
2 plum tomatoes
2 zucchini
2 lebanese eggplant
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 cup tomato paste

Method:

Potato Gratin: Peel, wash and thinly slice the potatoes.

put them in a bowl and pour 500ml of the soy milk, cover the potatoes in the milk, add chopped thyme, salt and pepper.

Toss the potatoes so that they have an even covering of ingredients. Spray a small ovenproof pan with cooking spray, then layer the potatoes covering the bottom of the tin completely, continue this process until all the potatoes are used.

Sprinkle half of the ground linseed over the top of the potatoes, pour the rest of the milk over the top and then sprinkle the rest of the linseed over the mix. Cover and bake in moderate oven until cooked through (about 1 hour).

Ratatouille: Slice the leek and capsicum and place in the bottom of a baking dish.

Add crushed garlic and miss through. Thinly slice your tomatoes, zucchini and lebanese eggplant.

Layer the tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant in lines over the leek/capsicum mix. Starting in one corner of the pan, place a slice of tomato, then zucchini, then eggplant and repeat in rows over the vegetables until the whole pan is covered.

Top the pan with tomato paste and bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Serve on its own or with a fresh garden salad to lighten it up a little. Enjoy!

Home-made Vegan Gnocchi with Tomato Chili Pasta Sauce

Another vegan recipe from us today.. home made gnocchi, a la bare-chested chef, with tomato chili pasta sauce. The gnocchi can take some time but if you make a heap you can freeze it and then it will only take a few minutes the next time you want some gnocchi goodness for dinner, the tomato pasta sauce is easy and fast and oh so delicious!

Ingredients:
(serves 6)

For the gnocchi:
10 medium sized sebago potatoes (or any floury/baking potato)
120g linseed/flaxseed (ground – we did this at home in a coffee bean grinder)
150g plain flour

For the pasta sauce:
2 450g can of tomatoes
2 clove of garlic
5 chilis
fresh basil

Method:

Pasta Sauce – combine tomatoes, minced garlic, chili and basil in a pan, simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Gnocchi – Boil potatoes then place in the oven on a low heat for approximately 10 minutes (just until they are dry), remove potato skins and push cooked potatoes through a sieve (note: mashing etc will change the consistency of the potato). Add ground linseed/flaxseed and flour, mix to form a dough. On a floured work area, roll dough into long thin straws. Cut dough into 2cm nubs and press with a fork to shape.

To cook the gnocchi place them into a pot of boiling water (we season the water by placing a sachet in the pot – cheesecloth filled with bay leaves, peppercorns and all spice – along with white balsamic vinegar and salt), once the gnocchi raises to the top of the pan leave it for a further 1 1/2 minutes before removing. Toss the gnocchi in olive oil and serve.