Tonight I reused leftover and made the best vegan pasta bake yet. Marco couldn’t believe how much it tasted like the real thing, even though it was the vegan version. This is as adventurous as I have been the last few days. I have been really busy in my last week of uni trying to get everything done. Still have an exam and thesis due this week, so not sure if I will be cooking anything exciting this week. If any of you are interested I just did a research project on Circus animal accidents in Australia on wordpress. Noone else has done a study on this previously so I’m very proud of it.
In between doing my work I have been pretty good with my diet. I eat at home most days, so not a lot of temptations out there. Except for my boyfriend eating his coconut chocolate and nutella in front of me every night. I was out with friends the other night and found out that EasyWay Bubble Tea do Soy Milk Tea’s. I love the green tea versions but I missed milk tea, so it was a nice vegan surprise. I had a soy strawberry milk tea with rainbow jelly, which was really satisfying after watching my friends eat a mango and shaved milk ice with ice cream at a Taiwanese dessert bar.
Anyway tonight I just reused left over Bolognese that I made with TVP and eggplant and it actually tasted a lot better the second night. I think for pasta bake its always works better when its already been cooked the day before, plus it makes sense not to cook it twice in one night. For the cheese I just made a basic vegan cheese sauce, which made it really creamy and cheesy. I just find a lot of the time that store bought vegan cheeses don’t melt, so I wanted something sticky and more cheese tasting. We also made some Tuscan cabbage chips, like you would kale chips. I figured its part of the kale family so why not. It was really good, pretty much tasted the same, but more crunch as it was more leafy. I will have to see if this can be done with silverbeat spinach as well.
Baked ‘Cheesy’ Fusilli Bolognese (vegan, gluten free option, soy free, nut free)
Ingredients:
500g whole wheat fusilli (use gluten free pasta if you prefer)
olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 small capscium, sliced
1 small eggplant, sliced
6 mushrooms diced
380g passata sauce
1 tablespoon fresh basil
salt & pepper to taste
Ingredients for Cheese Sauce:
1 tablespoon vegan butter
3/4 cup plant milk (I used rice milk, use oat, almond or soy if you can tolerate)
1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried onion flakes
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Methods:
1. Boil water and cook pasta according to instructions. Once finished strain with cold water and leave to the side.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan/pot and saute onion, garlic for 2 mins.
3. Add to pan capsicum and eggplant and saute for 4-5min or till all vegetables are browned (if eggplant is too dry add more oil).
4. Add passata sauce and basil and bring to the boil, then put on a simmer. Adjust seasoning and let it cook for 30-40mins. The longer the better, but make sure you add water if it gets dry.
5. Before serving heat the pasta through the sauce. This should serve 5-6.
If making Pasta bake…
Before cooking baking
6. Preheat the open to 180 degrees celcius and put pasta in a casserole dish.
7. Take a small pot and melt vegan butter on a low heat.
8. Take a bowl, add plant milk and tapioca and whisk so there are no clumps.
9. Add the milk to the small pot and keep on a low heat.
10. Add dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion flakes, nutritional yeast, salt and stir on a low heat for 5mins.
After baking
11. Once the sauce has thickened take it off the heat and pour over the pasta.
12. Cook the pasta bake for 30-40mins or until it is crispy on top. This should serve 5-6 or less if its left overs.
Live Blissful 