Specials Board: Spaghetti No-Bolognaise

Spaghetti No-Bolognaise and Vegan Mofo Day 24

For the remainder of Vegan Mofo I'm going to show you what to do with leftovers, starting with the homemade tomato sauce I made for the Two Squash Cannelloni.

Nothing goes to waste in this house! I always use up leftovers, if I'm not eating them for lunch the next day they will be turned into another dish. I think this stems from not having a freezer for 12 years! I had to be inventive with my leftovers but I don't think that's a bad thing.

I've made soup which has turned into a curry sauce or pasta sauce. I've stuffed mushrooms and other vegetables with leftover nut or lentil roasts. I've turned leftover stir fries into pies and stroganoffs into soup! Literally nothing is wasted. If I have condiments that need using up they normally go into something and sometimes it's a great discovery!

My homemade tomato sauce recipe makes 1.4 Litres, and I used 400ml of it in my Two Squash Cannelloni. So what do you do with the rest? You can either freeze it or do what I did and turn the leftovers into something different for dinner. This recipe doesn't use all of the tomato sauce but stay tuned over the next 2 days I'll show you how I used it all up, every last little bit!

Ingredients (Serves 6) 

1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 Red pepper, diced
150g Courgette, diced
454g frozen soy mince
2 Tsp Bouillon powder
200ml Water
600ml Homemade tomato sauce
1 Tsp Marmite
2 Tsp Mixed herbs
2 Tbsp Tomato puree
2 Tsp Balsamic vinegar
½ Tsp Sugar
Black pepper, ground

Method
Fry the onion in the olive oil for 5-10 minutes, until the onion starts to brown, add the red pepper and saute for another 3 minutes.

Add the chopped courgette and saute for another 2 minutes, before adding the frozen soy mince. Stir to combine everything.

Sprinkle over the vegetable bouillon powder and pour in the water. Give everything a good mix again, bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, marmite, mixed herbs and give everything another stir to combine all the ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes

Add the tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, sugar and black pepper and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. 

Serve with spaghetti. I halved the no-bolognaise, saving half for another leftovers meal and we ate two large portions and still had a large portion leftover. Stay tuned to see what happened to the leftovers.

Specials Board: Homemade Tomato sauce

Yesterday I posted my recipe for two squash cannelloni which used my homemade tomato sauce. This is my basic tomato sauce recipe, which I use all the time. Its great with spaghetti no-bolognaise, as a pizza sauce, with pasta and basil or on its own. Yes I've been known to put a dollop on my plate just as it is! 

Now, I like my tomato sauce thick, if you like yours a little thinner just add vegetable stock to thin it down to your desired consistency. You shouldn't lose any flavour but if you do add a squirt of tomato puree and top up with the herbs and spices. If you want your tomato sauce more creamy, add almond milk and/or cashews, remember though the cashews will thicken the sauce when left in the fridge.

I also like my tomato sauce with a little kick to it but if you don't like a little heat omit the chilli flakes and the black pepper. The sauce isn't spicy hot, it just has a warmth to it, with a little after kick, actually more like a gentle nudge!

Unfortunately I haven't been able to use my home grown tomatoes in this recipe as all I have is green tomatoes! I have made it before with home grown tomatoes and if you have a good blender you may not need to skin the tomatoes either.

Ingredients (makes 1.4 Litres) 
1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Onions, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 Pepper, chopped
2 Tsp Mixed herbs
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Black pepper
½ Tsp Chilli flakes
1 Tin chopped tomatoes (or fresh if you have them)
500ml Tomato passata
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Red wine vinegar
150ml Almond milk

Method
Fry the onions in the olive oil until translucent, then add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the pepper and fry for another 3 minutes.

Add the mixed herbs, paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and stir to combine everything. 

Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato passata and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes or until the mixture has reduced a little.

Add the sugar and red wine vinegar and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Transfer to a blender and add the almond milk. Puree to a smooth sauce and transfer to a clean saucepan. 

If you like your sauce thinner add vegetable stock, taste and adjust the seasoning to suit your taste.

Without vegetable stock the sauce if fairly thick and if used in an oven baked pasta dish you will need to use the same measurement of vegetable stock to tomato sauce.

Vegan Lasagne

Lasagne is a classic Italian dish which is based on meat, eggs and cheese, which is made by stacking layers of pasta, sauce and a meaty filling, so how do you create a vegan version? Easy! This recipe uses tofu and cashew nuts to substitute a ricotta cheese and then added to spinach, which provides a vegan version of a vegetarian spinach and ricotta lasagne.

You could use a ready made tomato sauce, which will cut down on your cooking time but a homemade sauce will taste better and you can control exactly what goes in it. You most probably have your own way of making a tomato sauce but I've included my recipe in case you want to try it.

Its easy to make and will serve 4 people with a large green salad and maybe some homemade garlic bread.

Ingredients - tomato sauce 

1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Tin of chopped tomatoes
150ml Vegan Red wine
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Garlic powder
1 Tsp Porcini powder
1 Tsp Dried oregano
½ Tsp Dried thyme
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
½ Tsp Sugar
½ Tsp Dried chilli flakes
1 Tbsp Tomato puree
2 Tbsp Fresh basil
Salt & Pepper

Ingredients - lasagne
1 Packet tofu (396g), drained & pressed
30g Cashew nuts, soaked in water for at least 4 hours
100ml Soy Cream
3 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 Tsp Lemon juice
100g Spinach
Salt & Pepper
6 Lasagne sheets
40g Vegan cheese, grated (optional)

Method - tomato sauce
Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent, add the garlic and saute for another minute.
Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan and stir. Next pour in the wine and give everything another stir. Bring the mixture slowly to a simmer and add the next eight ingredients. Simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly then add the tomato puree and fresh basil. Season to taste and turn off the heat.

Method - lasagne
Add the tofu, cashew nuts and soy cream to a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt & pepper and shredded spinach and blend again. 

Pour a third of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven dish then top with 3 lasagne sheets. Spread half the tofu mixture on top and repeat so you have two layers of everything. Pour the remaining sauce on top and add the grated vegan cheese, if using.

Bake in a moderate oven for 30-40 minutes

Specials Board: Creamy Vegetable Pasta

Last week I made some tomato sauce to serve with the vegetable stacks appetizer for our Valentines Dinner and I had some left over. As you know, I'm not one to waste anything so I tweaked the sauce and used it to top some penne pasta. If you missed how to make the sauce you can find that here.

I had about half the sauce left over and here is what I did.

Ingredients - Serves 3-4

½ Tomato sauce recipe
150ml Almond milk, unsweetened
1 Tin of sweetcorn
1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
1 Tsp Paprika
Salt & Black pepper
200g Pasta







Method
Cook the pasta as per the instructions.

Combine the tomato sauce and milk in a saucepan and gently re-heat. If the sauce is still a little thick you can thin it with some pasta water later.

Drain the sweetcorn and add to the pan along with the nutritional yeast, stir to combine.

Add the paprika, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the pasta reserving a little of the pasta water and tip the pasta into the sauce. Stir to coat all the pasta and add a little of the reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick.