Vegan recipe: gnocchi and veggies from the oven Ⓥ

Gnocchi are so delicious and filling. It’s not always easy to find a vegan version (check if they add milk in the ingredient list), but I’ve managed to find a good brand in my local organic store. Next up will be to make my own gnocchi from scratch, but until then, these will do 🙂

Ingredients (2-3p)

• 250 g Mushrooms
• 400 g fresh (of 200g frozen) spinach
• 160g vegan chicken pieces 
• 200 ml soy cream
• 1 package of vegan gnocchi
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Half a tsp turmeric
• Pinch of pimenton (smoked paprika) powder
• Salt (Himalayan or sea)
• Black pepper
• Olive oil or coconut oil
• Optional: nutritional yeast

Preparation

1. Clean the mushrooms (not with water, but with a paper towel or special brush) & cut in 4.
2. Cut the onion & cut in 1cm pieces (more or less), chop the garlic.
3. Wash the spinach thoroughly or use frozen (needs to be thawed first).
4. Put some olive or coconut oil in a frying pan or wok, allow to heat up well before adding the gnocchi. Stir fry until they’re a bit golden. Set aside.
5. Stir fry the vegan chicken bits until they are lightly golden. Set aside.
6. Stir fry onions, until golden, then add the mushrooms until nicely golden, add the garlic.
7. Add the (fresh) spinach and stir for a couple of minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°.
9. Add the spices and mix with all the other ingredients in the wok for  a few minutes.
10. Add the soy cream and stir until everything is well mixed and the sauce turns nicely golden yellow (turmeric effect).
11. Add pepper & salt to your taste.
12. Add nutritional yeast for a nutty/ cheesy flavour (optional).
13. Put the content of your pan in an oven dish and leave it the oven for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a green or tomato/ rocket salad.

Bon appétit!

Yogi recipe: gnocchi with tempeh, eggplant and tomato sauce

Last year I went to Frankfurt for the first time in my life and it was such an amazing city to discover, especially since it was super easy to find delicious vegan food ! In the Veganz supermarket there is this small café (Sesamo) where you can get delicious food to take away or eat there (there are some high chairs with high tables against the windows), they sell pastries too, all vegan! I love gnocchi, but it’s not easy to find a vegan version, at least not in Belgium. Hence I was super happy to find a gnocchi recipe with eggplant, tempeh, mozzarella and tomato/ basil sauce. I ate it twice that weekend …

Back home I’ve tried to recreate the recipe, hereby my version:

Ingredients*

• 1 block of tempeh
• 1 large or 2 small eggplants
• 1 portion tomato sauce (home-made or bought)
• Gnocchi (I buy a vegan version at an organic supermarket)
• Fresh basil
• Vegan mozzarella cheese, i.e. Daiya, Tofutti or Cheezly (so far, I’ve only found it in Ekoplaza, in the Netherlands)

*I use mostly organic, unless impossible to find.

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut the tempeh in 1 or 2 cm pieces or strips. Marinate it for at least 30 minutes in a mix of shoyu or tamari sauce mixed with some olive oil and black pepper. Wash and cut the eggplant in cubes, add salt, leave it for about 30 minutes until the water comes out of the eggplant, use paper towels or a clean kitchen towel to wipe off the excess water.
Sprinkle olive oil and black pepper on the eggplant cubes, spread out on an oven plate, in one layer and put in the oven. (You can add garlic if you like that’s not a sattvic ingredient, so I don’t use it in my yogi recipes). Add the tempeh in an oven plate and put in the oven as well. After about 10 or 15 minutes, turn the eggplant (or when well baked), idem for the tempeh. Cut the mozzarella cheese in thin slices. Wash the basil and shred the leaves. Boil a big pot of water for the gnocchi. When the tempeh and eggplant are well baked, transfer them to a big pot, add the tomato sauce, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese, add salt and pepper to your taste. You might want to add some fresh cherry tomatoes (when in season) and leave the sauce for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Prepare the gnocchi according to the instructions. Serve the sauce on top of the gnocchi and serve directly. Garnish with some freshly washed basil leaves. You can serve the gnocchi with a seasonal salad.