Spaghetti & meatballs always reminds me of the “spaghetti scene” from Lady & the Tramp. These are so tasty that you may find it difficult to give that last meatball to your loved one.

I made them a bit different than my usual meatballs. I added a third of a recipe of mushroom burgers to the mix, and omitted the oil. They were really good, a bit firmer than usual. Next time I’ll probably just add extra mushrooms to my standard meatball recipe. I think the mushrooms make the meatballs moist without having to add oil.

The sauce was bolognese from Seeds of Change (which, despite the name, contains no meat or faux meat).

This is a quick & easy pasta dish, perfect for a busy day when it’s already well into evening and the stove has not yet been lit. Not authentically Italian, perhaps, but delicious.

I used this recipe, omitting the cheese, and adding some veggie prawns for protein. Instead of a tin of cherry tomatoes, I used passata (tomato sauce) that I had left over in the fridge, and added fresh cherry tomatoes from our allotment (just about the last of them).

I cooked the fresh tomatoes with the garlic for about seven or eight minutes before adding the passata and basil.

The veggie prawns were sauteed separately with a some freshly minced garlic, and were added on top of the pasta for serving.

Squisito!

A few days ago, both Mr Thrifty and I were in the mood for pizza, but it was late and I didn’t have a pizza crust premade in the freezer.

So I decided to make pizza using French bread as a base instead.

I used a type of baguette that is widely availably in supermarkets here. The crust is more soft than crusty, and the shape is slightly flattened rather than being more round like an authentic baguette.

The pizza was incredibly delicious, and we’ll be making this super-quick pizza again and again.

Here’s how to do it:

* Cut the baguette into 15cm/6″ lengths, then cut each chunk in half lengthwise

* Spread the bread with pasta or pizza sauce. (I used a premade sauce: Tomato & Basil pasta sauce from Seeds of Change.)

*  Grate some melty vegan cheese on top of the sauce. (I used Redwood’s Mozzarella Cheezly.)

* Add toppings. (I used sauteed courgette/zucchini and sauteed mushrooms.)

* Bake in a preheated 200C/400F oven for 15 minutes, until cheese has melted and bread is crusty

Enjoy!

This is a great recipe to use up some of the glut of courgettes (zucchini) that we gardeners always seem to have at this time of the year.

The first time I made this, Mr Thrifty asked me the next day when I was going to make it again, so it soon made another appearance on the dinner table.

First, a note about lasagne noodles. They’re different in size on this side of the pond, so you may need to adjust the number of noodles you use (they’re rectangular here, rather than long and thin as in America/Canada). I use two noodles per layer in my 24cm (9-1/2″) square lasagne pan. You need enough to make four layers, but keep in mind that if your pan is bigger, you’ll also need to adjust the other ingredients.

Inspiration came from here, though it isn’t much like the original.

For melty cheese, I used Mozzarella Cheezly, and for hard cheese, Mature Cheddar Cheezly. I used Tofutti vegan sour cream in the filling, although vegan cream cheese would be good as well.

I cheated and used a prepared pasta sauce (Seeds of Change) instead of making my own.

Enjoy this great summer dish!

1. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a heavy pan. Add onion and saute for six to eight minutes, until softened. Add garlic and saute for two minutes. Then add grated courgette (zucchini) and saute until courgette is softened and some of the moisture has evaporated. Mix in sundried tomatoes, basil and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Clean pan, then saute mushrooms in remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until moisture has evaporated and they begin to go crispy. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, cook lasagne noodles according to package directions. Remember to gently stir them whilst they are cooking so they don’t stick together. Drain, rinse in cold water and lay in a single layer on a clean tea towel until needed.

4. Preheat oven to 220C (450F).

5. Grease a 24cm (9-1/2″) square, 6cm (2-1/2″) deep dish with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom.

6. Layer the following: two lasagne noodles, one quarter of the remaining sauce, one third of the courgettes (zucchini), one third of the mushrooms, one third of the hard cheese, one quarter of the melty cheese. Repeat this twice.

7. Top with remaining two noodles, the last of the sauce and the remaining melty cheese. Cover dish with foil.

8. Bake for 45 minutes, until hot and bubbling and cheese is melted.

Makes 4 to 6 servings, depending on how much of a little piggy you are.

On the same day as I made the amazing banana chocolate chip muffins, I had another fabulous cooking success. What are the chances? The cooking gods must have been looking down favourably on me that day.

I wanted to make something quick and tasty for tea (i.e. “supper”. Don’t ask me why the evening meal is called “tea” here, it just is). Pasta sprang to mind, though I hankered for a creamy sauce instead of the usual tomato-based one.

For this dish, I decided to use one of the four small packages of veggie shrimp that I brought back with me from my recent trip to the homeland. Also some broccoli that was in the fridge patiently waiting to be used.

I started with this recipe, though I had to change it a lot to veganise it. Also, I didn’t have any angel hair pasta, which I think would have been better with a cream sauce, though it was still delicious with the rotini that I did use. It also would be awesome with some homemade fresh vegan pasta. If you’re using a very quick-cooking pasta, you’ll want to prepare the rest of the recipe before cooking it.

I used a few prepared products in the cream sauce, namely vegan sour cream, cream cheese and hard cheese. But you only need small amounts of each of them, so the dish isn’t too expensive to make. Of course, it doesn’t clog your arteries or harm your karma like a dairy-based sauce would.

Enjoy!

1. Melt two teaspoons of the margarine over low heat. Add flour and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the soya milk to make a smooth sauce, and simmer until thickened. Whisk in the fresh basil, cream cheese, sour cream and one clove of the garlic until smooth. Then add shredded Cheddar, and cook gently until it melts into the sauce. Stir in tomatoes, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Continue to simmer on very low heat while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Salt the water, then add pasta and cook according to package directions.

3. While pasta is cooking, steam broccoli for 3 or 4 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain.

4. Melt remaining one teaspoon of margarine and gently saute remaining two cloves of garlic for a minute. Then add the veggie shrimp and cook until they are heated through. Also add the steamed broccoli to reheat it.

5. When the pasta is finished, add it to the sauce, and top with the veggie shrimp and broccoli.

Makes two servings.

This is a great quick meal. Who needs takeaway when you can have this delicious meal on the table in about half an hour?

I have no idea if it resembles “authentic” spaghetti bolognese. But it tastes great!

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over low heat. Saute onion and red pepper for 10 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and continue to saute for an additional minute.

2. Add veggie mince and saute a minute or two. Dissolve bouillon cube in 60ml / 1/4 cup boiling water. Add to veggie mince in skillet. Continue to saute until veggie mince has absorbed bouillon, about 5 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne and salt & pepper to taste. Gently simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions.

5. When spaghetti is cooked, drain and serve with bolognese sauce.

Makes two servings.

We finally had snow on Monday. It was very pretty when the snow was falling, big fat fluffy flakes covering the ground and everything else. Mr Thrifty had a couple days booked off, so we went to the mall. People are wimps about snow here, so there weren’t many people out and about, and the mall was relatively quiet.

We stopped at the food hall at Marks & Spencer, with the thought of picking up something for lunch. I like M&S. They not only have high quality groceries, they also have in place a policy called Plan A (“Because there is no Plan B”). Which means, in their words, they are taking steps to “combat climate change, reduce waste, safeguard natural resources, trade ethically and build a healthier nation”.

I realise that may sound like a lot of corporate mumjo-jumbo-tell-the-customer-what-they-want-to-hear, but they have taken some concrete steps, such as only using free-range eggs in their products, and only selling products which are not tested on animals (which also applies to the product ingredients).

Anyhoo, back to lunch. In the bakery we spied some Peperonata Foccacia, which looked delicious. The allergy tag didn’t say it contained dairy or egg, but we asked the bakery person to look in his book of ingredients just to be sure. Oh joy! The foccacia was vegan! All natural ingredients too… no preservatives or other big unfriendly-looking chemical names.

I have to say that for 99p, it is one of the best takeaway lunches you could have. It was delicious, nice moist dough and tasty toppings. We’ll definitely be having that again.

And, oh yeah, about the snow. It warmed up above freezing the next day, so it quickly started to melt.

Today there is still some left on the ground, but not much.

So I guess that is our snowy weather, done and dusted for another year.

I’ve tried a few different flavours of homemade seitan sausages, but these ones are really good. Mr Thrifty says they’re the best yet, but he says that every time I make seitan sausages.

I usually put all of the ingredients, other than the wheat gluten, into a blender and process until smooth. This time, I wanted little bits instead of a uniform texture, so the fennel, pepper and sundried tomatoes were stirred in after the other stuff was blenderised.

These sausages have Italian-type seasonings, which goes well with the sundried tomato flavour. They’re a bit softer than my other veggie sausages because of the tomatoes.

If you try the dough before you cook it, you’ll probably think there’s too much garlic, but the garlic flavour really mellows when they’re cooked.

Some bloggers wrap their sausages in foil before steaming. I don’t like to use foil right next to food. When I first made seitan sausages, I wrapped them in parchment paper, then in foil, before steaming, but sometimes they can burst the foil. Also I found I had to use new foil every time because it always tore when I unwrapped the sausages. Last time I tried wrapping them in parchment, then in cheesecloth. This worked better, and the cheesecloth can be reused. I also love Monique’s idea of wrapping veggie sausages in handkerchiefs before steaming, and I want to try that method as well.

One note about the gluten. It seems that every time I weigh gluten, then measure it by volume, I get a slightly different result. If you are using American (volume) measurements, you may find you need a bit more or less gluten.

The dough should soft, but not so sticky that it sticks to your hands. It won’t matter if the measurements are off a bit… the sausages will still cook through okay, they just might be a little softer or firmer than you want; take notice of the texture of the dough before you cook them, and adjust it accordingly next time.

Sundried-tomato seitan sausages

1. If you’re starting with whole almonds, grind them in the blender first while it’s still clean and dry, then remove and set aside.

2. Crumble the tofu into the blender. Put the bouillon cube into a glass measuring cup and add a couple of tablespoons of boiling water; stir to dissolve the cube. Add red wine and soy sauce to measuring cup, then add enough water so the mixture equals 100ml (6-1/2 tablespoons). Add this to the blender.

3. Add remaining ingredients to blender EXCEPT tomatoes, pepper, fennel and gluten. Blenderise until completely smooth. Empty into a large mixing bowl.

4. Toast fennel seeds in a clean, dry skillet (I use cast iron) until fragrant and starting to turn light brown. Remove from skillet and grind coarsely in a mortar and pestle.

5. Add fennel, cracked pepper and sundried tomatoes to tofu mixture in bowl and stir until evenly combined. Then add gluten and mix well, until you have a uniform soft dough.

6. Divide dough into six pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage shape (make sure you don’t roll them longer than your steamer!). Wrap each sausage in parchment paper and then in aluminium foil or cheesecloth. Lightly twist the ends together if using foil, or tie them with string if using cheesecloth.

7. Bring water to boil in a pot that has a steamer insert. Arrange wrapped sausages in your steamer insert. If using foil, arrange with seam side down as this reduces the likelihood of a foil blowout. Packing the sausages tightly in the steamer also reduces this chance. I arrange three sausages on the bottom of the steamer insert, then another three at a 90 degree angle on top of them.

8. Steam for 40 minutes over gently simmering water. If you’ve arranged your sausages in two layers, switch their positions halfway through the cooking time (bottom ones on top and top ones on bottom). Turn heat off and let cool.

9. To cook, gently pan fry until golden.

Can be frozen for future use (leave them wrapped and place in a plastic freezer bag).

Makes six sausages.

I’ve been playing around for awhile with my meatless meatball recipe. I was trying to duplicate Nate’s Meatless Meatballs, or at least my memory of them (since it’s been a few years since I’ve had Nate’s). I’m happy to report that I’ve achieved success at last!

These little puppies have a great texture that is, from what I can remember, very very similar to meatballs made from ground-up animals. In fact, I’m willing to bet you could fool carnivores with these. They are firm but not too chewy, with a slightly crumbly texture. I used a combination of textured vegetable protein (TVP), gluten, gram flour and breadcrumbs, as well as oil to keep them moist, plus spices and seasonings. I kept the seasonings quite neutral, so they could be used for anything from spaghetti & meatballs to sweet-and-sour meatballs to curried meatballs, and so on.

The first time I made them, I simmered them in broth, the way I do my seitan cutlets, but they didn’t hold together very well in the simmering broth. Now I steam them, which works great, followed by a brief session in the oven to make a slight crust on the outside.

Note that when they come out of the steamer, they will have developed a slightly flattened shape. If you wait a couple of minutes (until they’re cool enough to handle), you’ll be able to easily reshape them back into round balls.

Last night we had them with spaghetti and a simple homemade sauce, made by sauteing onion, sweet peppers and garlic in olive oil, then adding passata (tomato sauce), and seasoning with basil, oregano, salt & pepper. The meatballs were served straight from the oven, on top of the spaghetti and sauce, and not simmered in the sauce. I’ve tried simmering the meatballs in sauce previously and it works okay, but you end up with softer meatballs, and I think they’re nicer served firmer.

I use a mixture of groundnut (peanut) oil and coconut oil (which is actually solid at room temperature), but I’ve also made them just with groundnut oil and they’re fine like that too, though the coconut oil seems to give them a slightly firmer texture.

Update 14/02/09: Denny of a simple kind of life modified this recipe to be gluten-free; and Andy of Aloka Life successfully made these meatballs soy-free by substituting mushrooms for the TVP.

Delicious vegan meatballs

1. Make the TVP mixture ahead of time, as it needs to cool completely. Stir the prepared beef-style bouillon, Marmite and optional gravy browning together in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, add TVP and stir well. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes, then stir again and add onion and garlic. Set aside to cool completely. The mixture must be cold before adding the other ingredients.

2. Mix together the coconut oil and vegetable oil until you have a smooth paste. Set aside.

3. For the liquid mixture, put beef-style bouillon cube in a glass measuring cup. Add a couple tablespoons of boiling water, and mix until bouillon cube is dissolved. Add ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Then add enough cold water to equal 165ml (2/3 cup). Set aside. Note that this must also be cold before adding to the other ingredients.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine wheat gluten, besan, breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast and stir well.

5. When TVP and liquid mixtures are cold, first add oil mixture to TVP and combine well. Then add the liquid mixture and stir again. Now add this to the gluten mixture and mix it until it is evenly combined.

6. Form into meatballs. I make 24 meatballs, each about 2.5cm (1 inch) in diameter.

7. Prepare your steamer insert by lining it with greased parchment paper so the meatballs don’t stick (you can just grease the steamer insert without using the parchment paper, but they will stick a bit). Place meatballs in steamer insert with about a 2cm (3/4″) gap between them. My steamer is not very big, and I have to do the meatballs in three batches.

8. Bring an inch of water to boil in the bottom of your steamer, then turn heat down to maintain water at a simmer. Steam meatballs for 10 minutes, then carefully turn them over and steam for another 10 minutes. Remove them to a parchment-lined tray to cool. The meatballs will have flattened slightly in the steamer. Once they have cooled for a few minutes, you can gently reform them back into balls. Steam the rest of the meatballs the same way. Check the water level periodically to ensure the pot doesn’t boil dry, and add more boiling water if necessary.

9. When the meatballs are finished steaming, bake them at 180C (350F) for 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes 24 meatless meatballs.

I came across a recipe for Baked pepper & chorizo penne and it sounded really good, and easy to veganise. The crispy rosemary-flavoured breadcrumb topping was especially appealing.

Instead of chorizo, I used homemade sundried tomato Italian-style seitan sausages, but the dish would be delicious even without the faux sausage. For cheese, I used strong Cheddar-style Sheese.

I used less red pepper flakes in the pasta than the original, and less rosemary in the topping, though next time I’d use more of each.

The original recipe used 150g (5 ounces) of dried pasta for four servings. I didn’t think half the recipe would be enough for the two of us, so I made the full recipe. I was surprised that there actually WAS enough for three or four servings.

BTW, rosemary is very easy to grow, we have some growing in a pot outside and it stays green throughout the winter, one of the few herbs that does in this climate.

1. If you are using the optional seitan sausage, heat two teaspoons of the oil in a heavy skillet and fry over low heat until golden. Remove from skillet and set aside.

2. Heat remaining olive oil and saute onion and sweet pepper for three minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to saute for 10 more minutes, until vegetables are soft.

3. Preheat oven to 200C (400F).

4. Add garlic and chilli flakes, and saute an additional minute or two.

5. Add tomatoes (with juice), sun-dried tomatoes and capers. Cook gently for another five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling salted water until just done (mine took 11 minutes, but check the package as this varies).

7. Whilst the sauce and pasta are cooking, make the topping. In a blender, process bread until broken into crumbs. Add chopped rosemary and blend for another 10 seconds or so. Remove from blender and toss with grated cheese.

8. When pasta is cooked, drain and add to vegetable mixture. Thinly slice sausage (if using), and add to the mixture.

9. Spoon pasta mixture into a large shallow baking dish (I used an enamelled roasting tin). Top with crumb mixture.

10. Bake for 20 minutes, until topping is slightly crunchy.

Makes 3 or 4 servings.