Vegan Recipe of the Week - Vegan Vox Organic Shepherd's Pie

Now the nights are a little darker and cooler, we start to crave warm, satisfying, comfort food. What could be more comforting than a piping hot, super Vegan Vox Shepherd's Pie? I made this pie using the veggies from my regular Organic Riverford Veg Box delivery which I reviewed here.

Here is my recipe, serves 4.

Ingredients:

6-7 medium potatoes

3 medium carrots

1 onion

5-6 green beans/French beans

1 small cup of frozen peas

1 packet of Vegan Mince (or a 400g can of organic green lentils, drained)

4 tsp vegan gravy granules

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic salt

A pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire Sauce or Henderson's Relish

Salt and pepper, to taste

Organic soy milk, unsweetened - 3 tbsp

Organic olive oil spread - 1 tbsp

Nutritional Yeast Flakes - 2 tbsp

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Vegan cheese of choice, grated (optional)

Method:

Wash, peel and chop all of the vegetables.

In one saucepan place the chopped carrots, cover with cold water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Let them simmer for 10 minutes, then add the chopped green beans. After a further 10 minutes of simmering, add the frozen peas and simmer for another 5 minutes. Drain and set to one side.

In another large saucepan place the chopped potatoes into salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until very soft and then drain. Set aside.

In a frying pan saute the chopped onions in the olive oil for a couple of minutes then add the vegan mince (or lentils) and Worcestershire Sauce and saute for a few minutes until soft. Add the vegetables from earlier and stir into the mince mixture.

In a jug place the gravy granules and boiling water to make up 3/4 pint (480ml) of gravy and stir. 

Pour the mince mixture into a casserole dish and pour over the gravy and stir through.

Take the saucepan of drained potatoes and add the soy milk, olive oil spread, cayenne, garlic salt, onion powder, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and mash until combined well. Spoon this mixture all over the top of your pie filling and smooth over with a fork. If you like, you can grate some vegan cheese over the top of the potato.

Place in the oven at 180C for around 20 minutes until the potato has gone golden brown.

Eat and enjoy!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Basil Pesto/Spaghetti with Pesto & Oven Roasted Veg

I posted a few of my basil pesto pictures on my Instagram recently and had a few people ask me for the recipe so here it is complete with a meal idea.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

40g Fresh Basil

35g Pine Nuts

55g Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 clove garlic crushed or 1 tsp Lazy Garlic

2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes

2 tsp Lemon Juice

Sea Salt, pinch

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, pinch

Vegan Parmesan (optional)

Method:

Place the pine nuts in the food processor (with an s-blade fitted) first and pulse until coarsely ground, then add the basil leaves and garlic and pulse until combined.

If you don't have a food processor this can just as easily be made using a pestle & mortar.

With the processor running, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil slowly, then add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast flakes and seasoning and pulse until thoroughly combined. 

If you have any vegan parmesan you can add a tablespoon at this point but it is just as good without. It stores well in the fridge for a few days.

I made my pesto the other day into this meal for me and Mr Vox:

Spaghetti with pesto and oven roasted vegetables, served with cheese and fresh basil.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

100g dried wheat spaghetti

Basil Pesto (made from recipe above)

2 large tomatoes

4 large mushrooms

Olive oil

Italian herbs

A few basil leaves for garnish

Vegan cheese of choice, grated

Salt

Pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan. Wash and chop the tomatoes and mushrooms in half. Place them in a small roasting pan with a little olive oil and Italian herbs and salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutes turning over occasionally.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the spaghetti, simmer for around 10-12 minutes until the pasta is cooked, then drain.

Pour the pasta back into the pan and add in the pesto and stir through over a low heat. Add the oven roasted veg and the herby oil from the roasting pan and stir these through too. 

Serve in bowls with grated cheese (I used Cheezly Mozzarella Style on mine) and a few basil leaves.

This goes great with fresh crusty bread too or a delicious salad. Eat and Enjoy!

Come back next week for another Vegan Recipe of the Week, also please check out my new Recipes tab at the top of the page for a list of all of my recipes by course type.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx