Pumpkin Ravioli

Pumpkin is a great ravioli filling and paired with mushrooms and a sage brown butter sauce, this meal turned out quite tasty.  I've made ravioli on the blog before and so you may find referencing my mushroom ravioli post helpful.

The main difference this time is that I decided to make the ravioli vegan.  Instead of eggs, I used olive oil to form my pasta dough.  Throw your favorite gluten-free flour mix on a cutting board, form a well in the middle and slowly add in olive oil.  Slowly mix the dough with your hands, adding water until the dough forms a ball.  Roll or pat flat and cut into equal pieces.  Place in the fridge.  I made this while my pumpkin was roasting.

Now for the filling.  You'll need a sugar pumpkin to make your own pumpkin puree or buy a can.  Preheat your oven to 350.  Cut off the stem of your pumpkin and cut it in half.  Scoop out the seeds.  Spray a bit of oil on the pumpkin and place cut-side down on a foil or wax-paper lined pan.  Roast until tender, up to an hour.  A butter knife will easily pierce the pumpkin.  Remove from the oven and scoop the flesh away from the skin.

 

Place the flesh in a blender or food processor.  Pulse and blend until smooth.  Move to bowl.

Add:

1/2 cup walnuts, ground in food processor

1 tablespoon vegan parmesan

1 teaspoon brown sugar (this can vary depending on your pumpkin)

1/4 teaspoon Sage

1/8 teaspoon Thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Mix or blend well.  Feel free to change around the spices to your own tastes- I think some rosemary, garlic, and shallots would taste great in the filling as well.

Now it is time to make the ravioli.  Place a small amount of filling in the middle of one piece of dough, place another on top and crimp with a bit of water if needed.  You can cook these right away or place in the fridge until later.  To cook: place in boiling water for a few minutes until the ravioli float to the top.

Sauce: To a medium heat skillet, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a few tablespoons of Earth Balance.  Let the "butter" mixture cook/brown a bit and add 1/4 teaspoon sage and black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste if desired.  Add a handful of chopped mushrooms--I used a gourmet blend.  Cook until tender.

Add your ravioli and coat well in the sauce.  Plate and sprinkle with some vegan parmesan if desired.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

I am loving butternut squash this fall and this is one of my favorite recipes so far.  I make gnocchi with leftover mashed potatoes fairly often but this is my first time using squash.  I must say, these are my favorite I've ever made-the texture was perfect.

--Instructions--

Clean off your butternut squash and stab a few holes all over it. Place in an oven preheated to 375 and bake for an hour, until soft. Remove from oven and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds. Scoop the flesh out of the skin into a bowl. One very small squash made all the gnocchi in the photo above.

Mash the flesh and add a pat or two of Earth Balance and a splash of unsweetened original almond milk to smooth out the texture. You're just smoothing, don't thin it out too much. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Begin gently mixing in flour, I use King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour, little by little. You want the dough to just come together. It is right when you can pick up a chunk of dough and roll it into a thin log. Make several logs with your dough, flouring your hands as needed. 

With the log on a surface, take the side of a fork and cut each gnocchi. I like to go back and carefully press the fork on each gnocchi to create texture. Your sauce will better attach to this.

At this point I like to put my gnocchi on a plate (sometimes I cut them on a plate) and place them in the fridge for a bit. You can also freeze them flat, on a cookie sheet, bag, and freeze for later.

Too cook: throw the gnocchi in some boiling water. When they float to the top, they're done. Only takes a couple of minutes.

---

This time, I enjoyed my gnocchi with mushrooms and red onions in a sage butter sauce.  In a pan over medium to medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance. Melt (if you're using actual butter, let it brown a bit, you'll thank me) and add in some sage. Half a teaspoon or so.  Throw in sliced mushrooms and onions or whatever veggies you're in the mood for and let them get soft. 

Now you can add your cooked gnocchi. Stir everything together, add some fresh chopped Italian parsley and cracked black pepper. Plate and sprinkle on some vegan Parmesan cheese. Enjoy. 

This is a very "eye it" recipe so feel free to comment with any questions.

Stew

I've moved from soup to stew. This a warm and hearty one that will remind you of a great beef stew while being both gluten free and vegan.

--To a slow cooker add--

4-5 medium sized potatoes, coarsely chopped

1 bunch of carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1 small Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped

One can of diced tomatoes

1 cup Cremini mushroom, quartered

1 cup of Red Wine

1 shot of Brandy or Sherry (optional)

1 tablespoon of Sorghum Molasses

2 Bay Leaves

Several Dashes of Worcestershire Sauce (make sure to buy a vegan brand) 

2 drops of liquid smoke

1/2 teaspoon Rosemary

1/2 teaspoon Thyme

1/2 teaspoon Sage

1/2 teaspoon Paprika

1/2 teaspoon Fennel

1 teaspoon Salt (or more to taste)

Freshly Ground Black Pepper (I add A LOT, add at least 1 teaspoon)

I also add a can of young green jackfruit in brine.  Drain the can and rinse the fruit completely, remove any seeds.  If you're new to jackfruit, I recommend trying it this way first: http://bakeanddestroy.net/2013/03/you-dont-know-jackfruit/ 

Once this is in the cooker, add enough Vegetable Broth to just cover everything. Put the cover on top and cook on low for at least 8 hours, or until vegetables are tender. If cooking on high, your cooking time will decrease.  The jackfruit will break up some through the cooking process but feel free to help it along with a fork--it is amazing how reminiscent it is of pulled pork.

In the last hour of cooking, you'll want to take this from soup to stew.  In keeping this gluten free, I use a slurry of cornstarch and water.  Add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to a cup and whisk in water until it is smooth.  Incorporate into the stew.

I throw in half a bag of frozen peas at this point as well.

Let the stew cook the last little bit and serve with a bit of fresh parsley on top.

Butternut Squash Soup

Fall makes me think of filling soups--first up this year, butternut squash.  This version is vegan and gluten free.

--Ingredients--

One butternut squash

One carton of vegetable broth (make sure it is gluten free)

One Vidalia/sweet onion

Olive Oil

Cilantro

Four cloves of garlic

One dried red chile

1 1/2 Tbsp Curry Powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Sage

1/8 tsp Ginger

Salt and Pepper to taste

Coconut Milk

One Lime

Stick blender (or blender)

--Instructions--

Clean off your butternut squash and stab a few holes all over it.  Place in an oven preheated to 375 and bake for an hour, until soft.  Remove from oven and cool enough to cut in half.  Scoop out the seeds.  Cut up/scoop out the flesh of the squash--leaving the skin.

Place a soup pot over medium heat.  Add a bit of oil and the onion, chopped.  While this gets soft, get your spice mixture together.

Smash and finely chop the garlic.  Chop/mix in all the spices (including the diced dried chile) and a tablespoon or two of chopped Cilantro, to taste.

Add the spice mixture to the softened onion.  Let everything meld together and the garlic soften a bit.  At this point, add all of the butternut squash and vegetable broth.  You will likely use half to 3/4 of the carton.  It varies depending on your squash--keep it on hand as the soup cooks and add as needed.  Bring the soup to a boil, lower the temperature and cover for a half hour or so.

Remove from heat and let cool a bit.  Use a stick blender to get the soup to a smooth texture or blend, in batches, in a blender.  Once smooth, blend in about 2/3 cup of Coconut Milk and stir in the juice from half a lime.  Serve with some cilantro and a lime wedge.

Pizza!

I miss "real" pizza but am very thankful. through trial and error, to have figured out my favorite gluten free crust and vegan cheese.  The right items make a great pizza!

-The goods-

Crust:  Kinnikinnick Personal Size Pizza Crust 

Cheese: Teese Mozzarella Vegan Cheese

I top the crust with my favorite pizza sauce from Local Folks Foods, add thin round slices of the cheese (less is more with vegan cheese), and whatever vegetables I have around.  Bake and enjoy.

Another favorite option is buying a plain pizza from Bold Organics and doctoring it up with fresh veggies.  Very impressive for frozen pizza!

Note: Scizzas are worth every penny.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

After picking up some tomatillos and banana peppers at my local farmers market, I decided it was salsa time.  Since it's hot out, I decided on a fresh version. 

--Ingredients--

5 tomatillos, husks removed, cleaned, cut in quarters

3 banana peppers, chopped, remove seeds for less heat

1/3 - 1/2 sweet onion, depending on size, diced

Garlic, smashed, to taste. I used ~half a bulb

One bunch of Cilantro

Lime Juice to taste

1/8 teaspoon (or more) Cumin

Salt, Sugar, Red Pepper Flakes to taste

--Instructions--

Blend (I use a stick blender but the food processor works great too) the tomatillos, peppers, onion, and garlic.  I add one at a time so it slowly incorporates.  Blend in the cilantro last.  Add the cumin, lime juice and salt to taste, along with red pepper flakes if it needs a bit more heat.  Add a pinch of sugar if desired.

This is also great with jalapenos instead of banana peppers and with everything roasted ahead of time.

Squash Dressing

Squash Dressing is a summer staple of southern cuisine.  I always found the mushroom soup laden version of my youth a bit lackluster, so I looked for ways to improve the taste while updating it to be both gluten and dairy free.

-You'll need-

2 yellow squash/zucchini

1-2 stalks of celery

1/2 small sweet (Vidalia) onion

2 cloves garlic

1 cup mushrooms

2 tablespoons Earth Balance

Olive Oil

Fresh Sage, Rosemary, Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 pan (or 6 muffins) of Cornbread 

(I use Hodgson Mill cornbread mix made with unsweetened original almond milk)

1-2 cups of Vegetable Broth (make sure it is gluten free)

1/4 cup Vegan Sour Cream

-Instructions-

Chop your squash into quarters and then slice.  Steam with a bit of water in a large lidded skillet until just tender.  Remove the squash and discard the water.

Add the Earth Balance to the skillet and melt over medium to medium-high heat.  Diced onions, celery, garlic, and sliced mushrooms go into the skillet now.  Saute until soft, adding olive oil if needed.  Chop up the fresh herbs--a few teaspoons worth total, to taste, and add to the vegetables.  Add the squash back in, followed by a cup of vegetable broth, and the vegan sour cream.  A few cranks of fresh black pepper and sea salt are great now too.

After heating this mixture a while, slowly crumble in the cornbread while stirring everything together.  Add more broth if needed.

Grease your pan--I use a large loaf pan but an 8x8 or casserole dish will work as well.  Pour in the mixture, spread evenly, and put in an oven that's been preheated to 350.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until browned.

Serve with other freshly cooked garden-fresh vegetables or a nice salad.