Paprika Vegan Sausage Soup Bomb with Orzo

I have always been a bit skeptical about those meat surrogate for vegetarian. It is just seemed wrong to use them until now. I must admit that it is otherwise very limiting to cook without them when it comes to preparing second courses or stews. 

Here is a delicious Soup Bomb with vegetarian Sausage, flavored in a lot of Paprika and Cajun Pepper with Orzo. I swear you will not miss the pork!

To make this you need: 

1 liter of Vegetable stock
1 Big Onion
1 Carrot
1 Celery
1 can of chopped tomatoes
6 Vegetarian Sausages
1 cup of Orzo
1 Glass of Wine

For seasoning:

A lot of Paprika, 
Cajun pepper 
Salt to taste
4 peppercorn 
1 bay leaf

 
Start by dicing the vegetable, oil a large pot and start gently cooking the vegetables. In the meantime seasoned the Sausage with a generous amount of paprika ( i like the smoked one), a little but of Cajun pepper to add a bit of heat. Dice the Sausage and add them to the pot. Pour the glass of Wine into the pot and higher the flames so that the alcohol can evaporate.

Once the alcohol has evaporate, add the stock, the can of tomato, french peppercorn and bayleaf into the pot. Once the soup reaches the boil, lower the flame, cover the pot and let it cook for at least 60 minutes. 

Season with salt, add the Orzo to the soup and let it cook according to the instruction in the package

Once the orzo is cooked, you can serve the Soup with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and and some Parmiggiano ( if you are not Vegan)

Chickpeas Pizza or Ceci

An incredible Vegan recipe that will delight every vegan and non-vegan in the world. It is super easy to make and mega cheap. 

You’ll need

·      300 g of Chickpeas flour (really easy to find in Italy or in Arab grocery)

·      1l of water

·      A cup of extra virgin olive oil

·      Salt and pepper.

How to make it: 

Mix the Flour and the water in a large mixing bowl. Add half of a cup of oil and some salt and let it rest for 3 hours. Ideally, you are supposed to let it rest for 4 to 7 hours and then remove the foam, formed on the surface of the mix. I honestly made it both ways: one time for 5 hours and the other time with no rest, and I didn’t really feel the difference……

Anyway, once the mix has rested, oil a hoven-pizza-pan with half a cup of olive oil and pour the mix into the pan, half a cm thick.

Bake it for 40 minutes at 220°C or until is crisp and gold.

Serve it very HOT!!

You can top it with black pepper and more salt, which is the traditional way or with some cheese like stracchino or Gorgonzola. It is also good to serve it with some vegetables, when it is still hot. I have used some green cabbage cooked in white wine and some taleggio.

Vegan Legumes Soup

When you don’t feel like buying meat because it is too expensive, or you are vegan, or you don’t have enough money to feed your body with enough protein to survive, you should try and make this legumes soup! It is full of flavor and it doesn’t even taste like vegan food!

You’ll need:

Olive oil

• 3 medium size potatoes
• 3 carrots
• 1 white onion
• 1.5 liter of vegetable stock
• A can of green lentil
• A can of cannellini bean
• Fresh parsley
• 1 cup of orzo
• Salt and pepper

 How to do it:

Start by dicing 3 medium size potatoes, 1 white onion and 3 carrots. Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a big soup pot and add the vegetables. Stir the vegetable and let them sweat for about 10 minutes and them pour 1.5 liter of vegetable stock.  After 20 minutes the vegetable should be nice and tender.

At this point you can drain the can of green lentils and the cannellini beans and add them to the pot with some fresh parsley. Adjust the flavor with some salt and pepper to taste. Let the soup cook for 10 more minutes before adding the Orzo. Once the orzo is done, you can serve the soup with some toasted bread!

Stuffed Tomatoes

It is so sunny in Glasgow today, that I feel like I should celebrate with a very colorful and even Vegan dish.  I am not a fan of Vegan cuisine, not because I don’t support their life style but because I feel like Vegan can’t cook!...at least the one I have tried so far…. The inspiration comes of course from my mum’s kitchen. She makes them almost once a week. But because today I really feel inspired, I am going to try also my own interpretation of stuffed tomatoes. Remember the green peas puree and the grilled red pepper that I have used the other day with the salmon? I still have some leftovers in the fridge that are not going to be wasting it, Trust me!

Ingredients for my mum’s recipe:

·      8 medium size Tomatoes

·      100 g of Breadcrumbs

·      Parsley

·      2 cloves of Garlic

·      Salt, Pepper, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·      Parmesan cheese  (If you are Vegan you can discard it and the recipe is still delicious)

Ingredients to add for my own Interpretation:

·      Leftover Grilled Peppers and Green peas Pureè ( if you want don’t remember how to make it follow this link (http://acenadalpollo.blogspot.com/2011/11/salmon-steak-with-green-peas-puree-and.html)

·      Few chunks of goat cheese

How to make it:

Preheat the oven at 180 °C

Wash and dry the tomatoes, cut them in half horizontally and scoop out the flesh, being careful not to damage the tomato. Keep the flesh aside. Place the scooped tomatoes on a baking try.

Stuffing: In a mixing bowl add breadcrumb, finely chopped garlic, chopped parsley, salt, pepper (Parmesan if you are not Vegan) and enough olive oil to make the mix moist.

Fill the tomatoes with the stuffing. Remember to place the flesh of the tomatoes in the baking tray, between the stuffed tomatoes and make sure you have extra stuffing to sprinkle over the tomatoes and over the flesh before baking together with some extra olive oil.

Bake the tomatoes for at least 45 minutes to one hour, depending on your oven.

For my own Interpretation: Leave some of the tomatoes empty, sprinkle some drops of olive oil and some salt and chopped garlic and let them bake in the same baking tray so that they can still get some extra flavor. Once they are done stuffed them with little chunks of goat cheese, the green peas puree and some chopped grilled rep peppers.

This dish is to be served at room temperature so make sure you prepare it a bit ahead!