Dinner Party #3- The Italian Gob

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

Serves 4

If you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed that when it comes to Italian food, the vegan options are few and far between. The fact of the matter is that tasty Italian vegan cuisine is not that difficult to create and goes down a real treat. My methods for creating this menu may not be traditional but hey, when it comes to veganising dishes, sometimes you have to break the rules. So throw that boring penne with tomato sauce out the window and fill your Italian gob with this hearty and creative food!

Entree

Bruschetta

Polpette (Little Meatballs) with tomato sauce

Main

Meat Leavers Pizza

Pesto Vegetable Pizza

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Creamy Pesto Sauce

Dessert

Tiramisu Ice Cream Slice

We’re going to need a tomato sauce and pesto for several of these recipes, so let’s make those first!

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Method

1. Cook the onion and garlic in hot oil before adding the remaining ingredients.
2. Bring to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes at this heat.
3. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for a further 20 minutes to allow sauce to thicken.
4. Remove from the heat and put aside for our delicious recipes!

Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch fresh basil
• 3/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons Parmazano
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt

Method

1. Blitz basil, pesto and Parmazano in a food processor.
2. Gradually add the olive oil and a pinch of salt.
3. Once smooth, set aside for our recipes!

Polpette (Little Meatballs)

Now I can’t take all of the credit for this one, it was adapted from Post Punk Kitchen which was originally adapted from somewhere else!

Ingredients

• 1 350g block of high protein firm tofu
• 1 small red onion, very finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 beef style stock cube
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Plain flour
• Prepared tomato sauce

Method

1. Crumble the tofu into a large bowl.
2. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl (except flour) and mix really well until combined.
3. Using a tablespoon, scoop out some of the mixture and roll into a ball. Repeat this until all of the mixture has been used.
4. Heat some oil in a large frypan.
5. Roll each ball in flour before adding to the frypan. Cook until golden brown.
6. Serve with warmed tomato sauce.

Bruschetta

Ingredients

• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• Handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Pinch of salt
• 4 slices of bread (I used Vienna Sourdough)

Method

1. Toast the bread until brown and crispy
2. Toss tomatoes, onion, basil, oil, balsamic vinegar and salt in a bowl.
3. Top each piece of bread with some of the tomato mixture and serve.

Meat Leavers Pizza

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3.5 grams dry yeast (half a sachet)
• 1 1/2 cups fine Italian flour
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup prepared tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup mock chicken chunks, sliced
• 1/2 cup mock beef chunks, sliced
• 1  Viana Picnicker, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/3 block mozzarella Cheezly

Method

1. In a bowl, mix the water and yeast until yeast has dissolved.
2. Gradually add the flour while mixing.
3. Add the salt and oil. If the dough is a bit sticky, add a little more flour.
4. Form into a ball and leave in the bowl to rise for about 45 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 220°C.
6. Roll out your dough on a floured surface. I prefer mine to be quite thin but whatever you like is fine.
7. Prick your rolled out base and top with tomato sauce.
8. Scatter the mock meats and onion onto the base in a thin layer.
9. Crumble the Cheezly evenly on top.
10. Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes until Cheezly has melted and base has become crispy.
11. Slice into pieces and serve hot!

Pesto Vegetable Pizza

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3.5 grams dry yeast (half a sachet)
• 1 1/2 cups fine Italian flour
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1/4 cup black olives
• 1/4 cup pineapple pieces
• 6 cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
• 1/4 cup red capsicum, chopped
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• 1/3 block mozzarella Cheezly

Method

1. In a bowl, mix the water and yeast until yeast has dissolved.
2. Gradually add the flour while mixing.
3. Add the salt and oil. If the dough is a bit sticky, add a little more flour.
4. Form into a ball and leave in the bowl to rise for about 45 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 220°C.
6. Roll out your dough on a floured surface. I prefer mine to be quite thin but whatever you like is fine.
7. Prick your rolled out base and spread out a little olive oil and pesto.
8. Scatter the vegetables evenly in a layer on top.
9. Crumble the Cheezly over the pizza.
10. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until Cheezly has melted and the base is crisp.
11. Cut into slices and serve!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Creamy Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, cut into chunks
• 2 cups fine Italian flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pesto we prepared earlier
• 1 tub Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• Parmazano

Method

1. Steam the sweet potato. Once cooked, mash until smooth.
2. Gradually add the flour while mixing well.
3. Once a dough is formed, use a teaspoon to measure out dough.
4. Roll dough into a ball and press gently with the back of a fork.
5. Boil a large pot of salted water and add half of the gnocchi.
6. Meanwhile, combine pesto and Tofutti in a saucepan and mix on a medium heat until the sauce becomes creamy.
7. Once the gnocchi has risen to the top of the water, remove and replace with the next batch.
8. Serve with the pesto sauce on top and top with Parmazano.

Tiramisu Ice Cream Slice

Ingredients

• 18 Nice biscuits
• 1 can Soymilke condensed soy milk
• 2 cartons Soyatoo Topping Cream
• 2 teaspoons espresso essence
• 1/2 block Whittaker’s dark chocolate, finely chopped

Method

1. Line a freezer-safe, rectangular dish with baking paper.
2. Lay 9 Nice biscuits on the bottom of the dish, sugary side down.
3. In a large bowl, combine cream and soy condensed milk until well mixed.
4. Add espresso essence and fold through chocolate.
5. Pour mixture on top of the biscuits and even out with a spatula.
6. Lay the remaining 9 Nice biscuits on top, sugary side up.
7. Place in the freezer until set (around 5 hours should do the trick).
8. Once set, remove from freezer and cut carefully, using the biscuits as a guide.
9. Serve cold.

Tags: basil, bruschetta, gnocchi, Italian, meatballs, pesto, pizza, polpette, tomato