Vegan MoFo: Pea & Asparagus Caramelle in Lemon Butter Sauce

I love pasta, and I love making it at home, from scratch. Sometimes though, I just don't have time to make fresh pasta sheets, but still want some homemade stuff. This is where wonton wrappers come in. They are neat little time savers, and you can still put your yummiest fillings in. When the Beloved and I got engaged, one of our gifts was a Jamie Oliver cookbook. In it, he went into much detail about pasta making, and it became an obsession of mine for awhile to perfect it at home. One of the recipes was for ricotta and lemon caramelle. I wanted to make a vegan version with the freshness of that recipe, but make it my own.

Ingredients
1 bunch of asparagus, finely chopped
1/2 cup peas
1/4 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons pea and mint pesto
1 packet egg free wonton wrappers
1 lemon
1/4 cup vegan butter
1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil
ground white pepper
mint leaves

Method
Blanch peas and asparagus, ans set aside to cool. Finely chop.
Add almond meal, pesto, and some ground black pepper, and mix well.
Put a small teaspoon of mixture onto a wonton wrapper, and roll up. Secure ends by pinching so that it looks like a wrapped sweet (hence the name caramelle). you may need to lightly wet to seal along the long edge.
When you have a batch ready to go, gently drop into a deep pan of salted boiling water for approximately two minutes or when pastry is translucent. Drain, and set aside.
To make the sauce, put a scant teaspoon of  lemon zest, the lemon juice, butter, and oil into a small pan. Melt together an mix well, and drizzle over pasta.
serve with fresh young mint leaves, extra peas (and pea shoots if you have them!)

Vegan MoFo: Spaghetti & Beetballs

These brightly hued tasty morsels are a combo of cooked beetroot, quinoa, almond meal, and a little falafel mix,  with lots of herbs and spices, in a rich tomato sauce. I baked them in the oven, and then poured the sauce over the top. I have no idea what quantities I used, but I used garlic, ginger, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce to flavour the beetballs. 

The sauce was tomato puree, red wine, italian herbs, and garlic, with cracked black pepper and fresh parsley. I wish I had written down what I did...but I didn't. So until I make them again, you'll have to either try making them yourself, or wait til I actually post a recipe :)

The Rawmazing Race: Raw Pasta in Rome

Tonight's dinner is pasta - zucchini noodles that is, with a "cheezy" sauce made from sunflower seeds and cashews, with some garlic, nutritional yeast, and a bunch of pinches of this and that which I can't really remember! I topped the pasta with some chopped capsicum, mushrooms, and spinach, and a few  olives. I don't know if I can get through the entire plate, as I am pretty full still from lunch, which was kale wraps. AND I'm managing to stick to this even though it was -1 when I got up this morning and it's about 2 degrees now (Celsius that is). I have been having hot herbal teas, and a glass of warm water with lemon juice when I get up, which has probably helped. I don't feel overly hungry or desperate, although when it is heading towards meal times I am getting a few random cravings (like mac and cheese which I don't really like that much?) Sales meeting at work involved chicken Caesar wraps...luckily just the thought of eating chicken makes me want to barf anyway, so I had no temptations today! 

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Vegan Pumpkin & Cranberry Ravioli with Brandy Butter & Toasted Pistachios

Look at the lovely colour as you bite into these...mmmmm

And in a spoon as a canape. 

I'm not exactly sure what prompted this one. I guess I was thinking about traditional Christmas ingredients. I think of it like a biteful of Christmas. This would be lovely as an entree, or fold gow ghee pastry to make small ones and serve in Chinese spoons as an appetiser or canape. It will definitely be making the carnivores wishing they had these too!

Ingredients

1 cup butternut pumpkin

1 small onion

Handful frozen or dried cranberries

1275g packet gow ghee pastry

1/4 cup vegan margarine

splash brandy

pistachios, lightly toasted for decoration

Method

Pan fry or roast onion and pumpkin. Allow to cool and then puree together.

When completely cold, put a small teaspoon pumpkin mixture with a couple of cranberries on a round of pastry. Wet the edges and carefully place another round on top, pressing firmly to seal. Continue until you have the number desired (this quantity makes one batch from one packet of gow ghee pastry, which is 15 ravioli, or 5 entree serves).

Steam or cook ravioli in boiling water, until tender (this only takes a couple of minutes).

While ravioli is cooking, in a small saucepan melt butter and add brandy, and a little salt and pepper to taste.

Toast crushed pistachios lightly in a hot frying pan without oil.

Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon, and place on serving plate (three is sufficient for an entree). Drizzle brandy butter over ravioli and sprinkle crushed pistachios over the top.

Vegan MoFo: Gluten Free Warm Pasta & Potato Salad

The Beloved was out tuning again last night (he does pipe organ tuning still to keep up his skills), so the Kitchen Fairy and myself had a simple dinner.  I roasted some chat potatoes; cooked some gluten free penne; sauteed some mushrooms, onions, and pinenuts; and added some salad leaves, tomato and olives. I tossed some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the lot, with some lemon and pepper, and voila! Dinner for some can't-be-very-bothered people!

Vegan MoFo: Mushroom Ravioli in Port Butter with Thyme and Toasted Almonds

It's Day 2 of VeganMoFo and here I am posting about pasta. But Spring just hasn't got a hold in the Mountains yet, so we've still been eating comfort food. And this IS comfort food, trust me. Have this with some garlic bread to mop up all that delicious buttery goodness, and a glass of your favourite wine.

Ingredients

For the filling

400g assorted mushrooms, such as swiss brown and button.

2 or 3 porcini mushrooms, soaked.

2 cloves garlic

1 small onion                  

Method

Chop filling ingredients roughly and sauté in a knob of vegan margarine and a splash of olive oil until soft (these are technical terms of course). Set aside and allow to cool.

Finely chop by hand or use a food processor on pulse.

Taking one wonton wrapper, place a teaspoon of mushroom mixture in the centre, brush around edges with water, and top with another wrapper, firmly pinching together. Set aside, and continue until mixture or wrappers are finished. I got 30 ravioli from this batch.

Set a saucepan of water to boil and add a little olive oil (this stops the pasta sticking together).

For the sauce

Ingredients

½ cup vegan butter or margarine

1 teaspoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon crushed garlic

2 Tablespoons slivered almonds

2 Tablespoons port

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

Toast some slivered almonds in a dry frying pan on a low heat for a minute or two –watch that they don’t burn!

Melt the butter over low heat in the frying pan, and add the olive oil and crushed garlic. After a minute, add the port and thyme.

When the ravioli is cooked, drain carefully and arrange on a plate, drizzle with the butter sauce and top with the toasted almonds.