The Ultimate Vegan Bagel

This is my absolute favourite bagel filling combination. I just had it four days in a row for lunch, I’m so obsessed! You can also add hummus to this bagel for something extra, but it is also good as is.

Ingredients:

1 block tempeh, cut into slices

Vegan cream cheese

Tomato slices

Balsamic glaze

Basil

Salt & pepper

Bagels

Tempeh Marinade:

3 tbsp tamari

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

A few drops of liquid smoke

Method:

Place tempeh slices in a container and add all marinade ingredients. Close the container and shake it until the marinade has spread throughout evenly. You can either place this in the fridge to marinate further or cook tempeh straight away.

Cut your bagels in half and toast. Spread cream cheese over both halves (or one half hummus, if using, and one half cream cheese). Top one half of the bagel with tomato, salt & pepper, balsamic glaze, the cooked tempeh and basil then place the two bagel halves together and enjoy.

Vegan Custard Slice

A kiwi classic but veganised!

Ingredients

2 sheets vegan puff pastry (some are accidentally vegan at the supermarket or you can make your own)

Custard

3 cups soy milk

6 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp turmeric

Pinch salt

1/3 cup margarine

Icing

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tbsp water (possibly more)

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place pastry sheets on a lined baking tray and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and gently press pastry down flat then put back in the oven for 10 more minutes until golden brown - pressing down again half way and once finished.

For the custard, mix one cup of soy milk and the cornflour together in a saucepan until there are no lumps. Add the rest of the soy milk and all other custard ingredients to the saucepan except the margarine. Bring to the boil while whisking continuously. Turn heat down to low and keep whisking until thick. Take off heat and transfer to another bowl to start cooling. Mix in the margarine while the custard is still warm. Be sure to act quickly with the assembly because you don’t want to custard to cool too much before pouring as this is result in a lumpy final product.

Assemble the custard squares in a deep 20cm x 20cm baking pan. First line with baking paper (leave some overflow so you can easily pull the custard slice out of the pan when done). Lay the first sheet of pastry down first (you may need to cut to fit). Then pour over the custard and spread it out evenly. Add the second pastry sheet to the top.

Make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl, adding more water if necessary but you don't want it too runny. Pour the icing over the top layer of pastry and spread out evenly. Chill for 4+ hours then ENJOY!

Pumpkin & Caramelised Onion Ravioli

This is hands down the best ravioli I have ever eaten! I highly recommend making this for a date night at home.

Ingredients

Pasta Dough

1 cup flour

1 cup semolina

2/3 cup water

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Filling

1/2 medium sized pumpkin, cut into bite size chunks

1 onion, caramelised

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt & pepper to taste

Butter Sage Sauce

Large bunch sage, chopped

1/4 cup margarine

1/4 cup pine nuts

Method

To make pasta:

Mix flour, semolina & salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the middle then pour in water and olive oil. Mix until a dough forms, knead into a ball, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Divide dough into four and feed through a pasta maker until about 3-4 mm thick. If you don't have a pasta maker, hand roll out until you have the above thickness. You may have to work with smaller amounts for this. Using a cookie cutter or jar cut out your ravioli from the dough, can be any shape you like.

To make filling:

Roast pumpkin with olive oil, salt & pepper. While this is roasting caramelise onions in a fry pan. Add pumpkin then mash or blend pumpkin and onions together. Doesn’t have to be too smooth. Small lumps are fine. Add soy sauce, paprika, garlic powder, salt & pepper and fry for a few more minutes. Make sure you taste and adjust seasonings to what you think is good!

Spoon a little of the mixture into half of the ravioli cuttings and place the other half of the cuttings on top, sealing the edges well with water.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and cook ravioli.

To make sage butter:

Melt margarine in a saucepan on a medium heat and add sage stirring until fragrant. Add the pine nuts and take off heat once the pine nuts start to brown.

Serve ravioli on a plate and drizzle over sage butter. Enjoy!!

Vegan Mini Pizzas

These mini pizzas are super delicious and perfect for dinners, freezing and snacking on throughout the week or taking to a picnic. They are sure to impress anyone you make them for!

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

1.5 cups warm water

1 tsp dried yeast

4 cups plain flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Toppings

Pizza sauce - my favourite it Mamia’s Ethiopian sauce

Spinach

Sunfed Chicken-Free Chicken (optional)

BBQ Sauce

Olives

Vegan cheese of your choice

Method

For the pizza dough, combine the warm water and the yeast in a bowl and leave for 5 minutes until foamy. In a separate larger bowl mix the flour and salt together then make a well in the centre. Add the oil and yeast mixture and mix until combined then get your hands in and knead for ten minutes until a smooth dough forms (or knead in an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment). It’s a good sign if the dough is a bit sticky.

Brush another bowl lightly with oil then place the dough in the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm area for an hour or until the dough doubles in size. 

Preheat oven to the highest temperature possible. 

Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour and knead the dough for another minute. Then divide the dough into as many pizzas as you like. You want them to be at least 10cm in diameter when you roll them into pizza shapes. Keep them slightly thick if you want puffy pizzas but they will rise slightly. Roll each one into a disk then place on a lined baking tray slightly apart from each other. 

Add your toppings then bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes. Enjoy hot or freeze and eat as snacks throughout the week!