Spring into Action Part 1 - Speedy Spaghetti Bolognaise

I decided to compile a second series called "Spring into Action", which is all about healthy food that can be on your plate in a matter of minutes! Lets face it, with the nights staying lighter for longer who has the time to stand in the kitchen for hours on end preparing your meals, if you're like me you want to make the most of those lighter nights!

I have scoured the internet for some spring like quotes to get us started and here are a few of my favourites (you can tell I love my gardening!):

• Spring is natures way of saying "lets party!" - Robin Williams
• Despite the forecast - live like its Spring - Lily Pulitzer
• It's Spring! We are so excited we wet our plants - unknown
• In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt - Margaret Attwood (from Bluebeard's Egg)

My first super quick recipe I'm going to share with you is my Speedy Spaghetti No Bolognaise, its a tweak on a previous recipe I posted, but I keep going back to this recipe time and time again when I'm short on time.

Ingredients 
Splash of olive oil 
1 Onion, diced
1 Clove Garlic, crushed
1 Red pepper, diced

200g Soya mince (I used Tesco's own brand)
250g Tomato passata
4 Tsp Mixed herbs
2 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Balsamic vinegar
½ Tsp Sugar
½ Tsp Salt
½ Tsp Chilli flakes
2 Tbsp Tomato puree
Grind of black pepper

Method
Boil your kettle and pour the hot water over the spaghetti in a large pan. Turn on the heat and push the spaghetti so it is all under the water. Once it starts simmering give the spaghetti a quick stir. Cook as per packet instructions and drain.

Whilst your spaghetti is cooking make the "No Bolognaise" sauce.
First sauté the onion in the olive oil for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and sauté for a further minute, stirring all the time.

Next add the red pepper and sauté for another 2 minutes adding a splash of water if the vegetables start sticking to the pan.

Add the soya mince to the pan and stir so all ingredients are mixed well. 

Stir in the tomato passata and bring to a simmer, about 3 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir in, simmer for another 6 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.

Dish out the spaghetti onto plates and top with the "No Bolognaise" sauce.

Enjoy!

Jasmine x

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: Spinach Pasta Topped Mushrooms

This is the first recipe that I'm sharing from the 'daily/weekly' specials menu, more to follow throughout the month.

When it comes to pasta I either make a tomato based sauce, sometimes with other vegetables such as aubergine and courgette or a 'cheese' type sauce. Tonight I wanted something different, something vibrant, something green.

After making my soup course for my Valentines menu I had some spinach left over, (ooh another little hint at whats in store). I used frozen spinach for my soup recipe and as I haven't got my freezer sorted (yet) it needed using up. So I set to and made a spinach sauce.

I was really pleased with the outcome and I've tried it with two types of pasta, Penne and Spaghetti, both were good, although in my opinion you can be a little more creative with how you serve spaghetti.

Ingredients - Serves 4
500g Frozen spinach
1 Clove of garlic
90g Vegan 'cream cheese', I used Tesco Free From Cheddar Style Spread
Black pepper
150ml Almond milk, unsweetened
2 Tbs Nutritional yeast
200g Spaghetti or pasta of choice

Method
First, defrost the spinach, I used a microwave to speed up the process. Drain the spinach through a sieve pressing down to remove most of the water. Transfer to a blender. Roughly chop up the garlic clove and add to the blender with the spinach.

Add the vegan 'cream cheese', almond milk, nutritional yeast and a (very) generous grind of black pepper. Process until you have a thick sauce, if your blender is not that powerful you made need to add a little more milk. Transfer to a saucepan and warm through, be careful not to boil.

Add the spaghetti to a pan of boiling water and cook as per packet instructions, you won't need much longer than 8-10 minutes.

Drain the spaghetti, reserving a little of the cooking water in a jug and tip the spaghetti into the pan. Tip the sauce over the pasta with a little of the reserved cooking water and stir through. 

Serve at once, I served mine a top two grilled field mushrooms which sat on a spinach and mixed leaf salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumber. The mushrooms paired beautifully with the spinach.

Or serve with a hunk of homemade garlic bread. It's so easy to make, finely chop 3 cloves of garlic on a chopping board with a little salt, this helps to make the garlic more into a paste. Add a good glug of extra virgin olive oil and mix on the board. Slice length ways a hunk of bread and mop up the garlic, salt and olive oil with the cut sides. Wrap the bread cut sides together in silver foil and bake in an oven for 10 minutes. Caution: It's extremely garlicky, just the way I like it!

Spaghetti with Five Vegetable Sauce

Just a quick posting tonight folks, it's been a heck of a day, in a good way but it has left me shattered and I'm ready for bed! However it is Veganuary and I didn't want to miss sharing another recipe with you.

Today's recipe is super quick, super tasty and super healthy! You can't get better than that can you? 

Ingredients - Serves 2
120g Dried spaghetti
½ Red onion, finely diced 
4 Baby Corn, finely sliced
½ Red pepper, finely diced
5 Chestnut mushrooms, diced
8 Cherry tomatoes, chopped
Handful of kale, shredded
2 Tsp Paprika
½ Tsp Chilli flakes
1 Tsp Porcini powder
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Mushroom ketchup
2 Tbsp Almond milk
Water, as required


Method
Add the spaghetti to a pan of boiling water and cook as per packet instructions.

Meanwhile, saute the red onion, red pepper and baby corn in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add a splash of water if the vegetables start to stick.

Add the soy sauce and mushroom ketchup and stir, then add the paprika, chilli flakes and porcini powder and stir again. 

Add the mushrooms and continue to saute over a low heat for another 3 minutes adding another splash of water if the mixture is too dry. Add the kale and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and milk and cook over a low heat for another 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have broken down into a sauce.

Drain the spaghetti and serve at once.

Spaghetti No Bolognaise

I was tempted to go shopping but as we’re living on a very tight budget at the moment whilst we pay off our credit card (don’t ask!) I thought; lets be inventive and use what we have remaining in the cupboards! Now, I have a system for food - kept in the kitchen cupboards are what we buy at our fortnightly shop. In the garage are a couple of cupboards, which act as my storeroom, these are filled with food with a long shelf life that have been on offer and/or we use regularly. For instance tinned tomatoes, Nori Tofu, pasta etc . . . . .

After looking in the cupboard to see what I had to work with it was fairly easy to come up with an idea. Spaghetti no bolognaise.

Sauce ingredients                                                 Bolognaise ingredients

(Serves 4)                                                                 (Serves 2)

Olive oil                                                                     450g reconstituted soya mince

1 onion                                                                      1 onion 

2 cloves garlic - crushed                                          ½ portion tomato sauce

1-2 tin tomatoes (you can puree if desired)       

4 tsp mixed herbs

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

 ½ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt (optional)

 ½ tsp chilli flakes

½ glass red wine

2 tbsp tomato puree

Method

Follow the packet instructions to make the soya mince, but also add ½ tsp of dried cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic/onion powder. Too make the sauce, fry the onions in the oil until translucent and add the crushed garlic, fry for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes/passata and stir. Add the paprika, mixed herbs, sugar, salt, red wine vinegar, red wine and chilli flakes and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer until the sauce has reduced and is a little thicker. Add the tomato puree and keep on a simmer until needed. Sauce should become really glossy and thick.

Meanwhile fry the onion in a little olive oil and when the onion is soft, around 5 minutes add the soya mince and stir to combine. Add the sauce and stir, keep on a low simmer for 5-10 minutes, to cook through. Serve with spaghetti or pasta of your choice.