I took inspiration from my favourite Indian cookbook to devise my own version of this dish, and to veganise it. Mridula Baljekar is the author and I love the simplicity of her recipes. They almost invite you to experiment with the ingredients. I can’t describe to you explosion of flavours you’ll experience from this curry. The sauce is rich and silky and not too hot so it doesn’t overpower the spices. You’ll need a shallow pan with a lid if possible for this one, as the secret to its success is to keep in all the steam during cooking. I recommend gathering, preparing and measuring all the ingredients before you start to cook.


Ingredients

1 large block extra firm tofu (roughly 400g - doesn’t need to be exact)
2 onions finely sliced or chopped
Vegetable oil
1 inch fresh ginger finely grated
2 garlic cloves finely grated
1 red chilli finely chopped
5 green cardamom pods
10 cloves
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 cinnamon stick
2 or 3 bay leaves
4 tbsp tomato paste
200ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper (yes it sounds a lot but trust me!)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder (use less if you prefer)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp garam masala
1  400ml can coconut cream
20 curry leaves
​2 handfuls fresh spinach leaves
Fresh coriander
Half a lemon


Method

​Firstly prepare your tofu. I recommend freezing and thawing the block before using, if possible. It enables you to remove so much more liquid and this gives a firmer texture and allows more flavour to be absorbed. Cut your tofu into cubes and then press between sheets of kitchen paper to remove any excess moisture. Set to one side. 

Heat approx 2 tbsp vegetable oil in your pan on a low heat. Fry the onion until nicely softened and taking on colour. This may take 15 to 20 minutes but is worth the effort. Whilst your onion is cooking, you need to grind some of your whole spices. You can either do this in a pestle and mortar, use a coffee grinder or a blender. Once your cardamom, cloves and fenugreek are reduced to a fairly fine powder, set them to one side. (You can leave them whole if you prefer. I just don’t like the sensation of biting down on one mid way through eating.)

Once your onions are done, blitz them to a paste in a blender. Add a little water if you need to.

In the same pan, heat a further 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and fry your ground whole spices plus the cinnamon and bay leaves for a minute or so. Add in your ginger, garlic and chopped red chilli and cook for a further minute, stirring constantly. Now add in your onion paste, stir well and cook for a minute.

Now go in with your tomato paste, vegetable stock and the remaining ground spices, garam masala and black pepper. Stir well to combine and allow to cook, covered, for a few minutes. Now add your coconut cream and curry leaves. Stir and allow to gently cook for 15 minutes, covered, on a low heat. 

Finally, add in your tofu cubes and allow a further 10 minutes covered cooking time. 

You may need to adjust the liquid level during cooking. Add a splash of water if you feel your sauce is too thick.

Once you’re happy and the curry is blibbing away, add in a good handful or two of fresh spinach leaves and allow them to wilt into the curry. Also check for seasoning and add a pinch or two of salt if needed.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, a good amount of freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve with steamed basmati rice and naans.

You can either remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick before serving or just let your diners know they’re in there.

The first cookbook I ever bought was in 1990. It was The Complete Indian Cookbook by Mridula Baljekar. I was 20 and had never eaten any cuisine other than traditional English made by my mother - oh and the odd lasagna or spag bol at the local Italian. The picture on the cover looked so exciting to me and even though it cost 20 pounds, I bought it and would spend ages reading through all the recipes. It was years before I actually made anything from the book, as a lot of the spices were not easy to come by in a little village in South Yorkshire at the time. This recipe is based on one from the book. It uses simple ingredients but packs a punch flavour wise. It’s best served as a side dish as its not overly saucy.


Ingredients

1 onion chopped
Half a cauliflower broken into florets
2 medium potatoes peeled and evenly chopped
Veg oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 inch ginger grated
2 garlic cloves grated
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder (amount up to you)
2 large ripe tomatoes chopped
200ml vegetable stock
1 cup frozen peas
1 red chilli finely chopped
2 tsp garam masala
Chopped fresh coriander
Half a lemon
Ground black pepper


Method

Add a couple of tbsps of oil to a lidded pan and place over a medium heat. Add your cumin and mustard seeds and as soon as they start to splutter, add in your onions and fry for about 10 minutes until they are soft and taking on a little colour. 

Turn down your heat a little and add in the garlic and ginger. Stir to combine and fry for a minute or two. 

Add in the turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and chilli powder and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and stir well to combine.

Now its time to add your potatoes and the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and place the lid on the pan. Cook. Until the potatoes are roughly half cooked.

Add in the cauliflower florets, stirring well, then cover the pan again and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add a splash more stock or water if you feel its needed at this point. 

Stir through the peas, chopped chilli, garam masala, black pepper and cook for roughly 5 minutes more.

Remove from the heat, add a squeeze of lemon, stir through a good amount of chopped coriander and serve.​

Ahh the memories. Treacle sponge made the proper way. Yes, I know you can do microwave, ten minute versions, but nothing beats the old fashioned steamed method. I’ve used Tate and Lyle golden syrup for this as its just, quite simply, the best brand by a country mile. The sponge itself is an easy, all in one batter mix. I normally just add use ground ginger in this recipe, but today I added some chopped crystallised ginger to the batter and it really elevated the whole thing.

You’ll need a 2 litre pudding basin for this and a large pan with a lid - or something you can use as a lid (foil works) for the steaming process.


Ingredients

2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of either vegetable oil OR melted Vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla extract 
1 tsp ground ginger (feel free to use a little more if not using crystallised ginger)
1/4 cup of finely chopped crystallised ginger (approximately)
5 tbsp golden syrup plus extra for pouring over the finished pudding
Extra butter for greasing the pudding bowl


Method

Firstly prepare your pudding basin​. Grease it well and line the bottom with a disc of baking parchment. Spoon in your golden syrup. Don’t worry too much about accurate measurement - a little more or less won’t affect the finished pud.

Prepare your steaming pan. If you don’t have a trivet, place an upturned saucer into the bottom of the pan. This is to keep the pudding basin away from the direct heat in the base of the pan. Your pan must be deeper than your pudding basin.

Measure out your soy milk and add the apple cider vinegar. Stir and leave for a couple of minutes.

In a large bowl place your flour, baking powder, sugar and ginger (both kinds if that’s what you’ve decided to go with).

Pour your milk mixture and either the vegetable oil or melted butter into the bowl, along with the vanilla extract, and mix together well. The batter is fairly thick but should still drop off the spoon when lifted. If it feels a little too thick, just add a touch more milk. Sometimes flour brands vary. 

Pour your batter over the golden syrup scraping the bowl well so you aren’t tempted to sit on the kitchen floor wiping out the remainder with your fingers!!

Now we need to wrap up the pudding for the steamer. Take a sheet of baking parchment and fold a pleat into the centre of it (see pic 1 below). Then place over your pudding bowl and secure in place with string. You may need a second pair of hands for this if you’ve never done it before (see pic 2 below). Then tuck all the loose ends in with a sheet of foil. This helps to keep moisture out of the pudding while it cooks. Also prepare a folded sheet of foil to act as a handle to help remove the pudding if needed, once cooked (see pic 3 below).

Now place the pudding on top of the folded sheet of foil and bring the strips up to meet in the middle of the top of the pudding. Place your pudding into your prepared pan.

Boil the kettle and pour boiling water down the side of the pudding bowl, into the pan, until it comes approximately half way up the side of the bowl. Set the heat so that its on a rapid simmer. It doesn’t need to boil away madly, but you do need to keep it constantly ticking away. 

Cover the pan and steam for 2 hours. Check it every so often just to make sure the water is still roughly halfway up the bowl. It shouldn’t drop very much at all. If you do top it up, make sure you use boiling water so as not to knock it off the simmer.

Once the 2 hours is up, turn out the heat and just let the pudding sit for about 20 minutes, lid off, just to allow it to settle and cool a little before removing from the pan.

Carefully remove the pudding, using the foil strip to help if you need to, and take away all the foil and paper wrapping. Just gently slide a blunt knife around the pud just to check that its clearing the sides. If you greased your bowl well enough it should be free. Place your serving plate over the top of the bowl and working confidently and quickly, flip the whole thing over. Use a tea towel if the bowl is still too hot to handle.

Remove the bowl and the piece of parchment paper. If you want extra syrup just gently warm some either on the stove top or in the microwave and pour over. 

This is delicious served warm with either custard, cream or ice cream. 

I've made this loads of times without taking note of what I did, and never really doing the same thing twice.  When writing down the recipe for the blog,, I really wanted it to be as authentic as possible. I toyed with the idea of using lentils for the sauce element, but in the end I decided on a meat free mince. I just thought it would give the right look and texture in the mouth. I've gone with Funky Fields mince for this one as its an incredibly realistic product and easily available these days. I've kept the ingredient list as simple as possible, but all the essential flavours are in there. I prefer my Moussaka to be saucy, but if you prefer yours firmer, omit the passata in the meat sauce. The Moussaka will feed 6 people.

Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove grated
400g Vegan mince (I used Funky Fields)
2 medium aubergines sliced into 1cm thick rounds
2 medium potatoes
2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 cup passata
2 bay leaves (fresh if possible)
1 small stick of cinnamon
1 and 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Nutmeg
2 beef stock cubes (Vegan)
Chopped fresh parsley
Olive oil

2 cups unsweetened plant milk (I use soy)
4 tbs plain flour
4 tbs Vegan butter
100g grated Vegan cheese
2 tbs nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper

1. In a large pan, add a glug of olive oil and then the onion, garlic, cinnamon stick and bay leaves and cook over a medium heat until the onions are softened. Add in your mince and break down with a wooden spoon.

2. Add the tomatoes, passata, dried oregano and crumble in the beef stock cubes. Combine well and allow to cook slowly over a low heat for about 45 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then, while we deal with the other elements. Preheat your oven to 170C.

3. Either fry or griddle the aubergine slices using a little olive oil, until nicely tender and coloured. Set aside.​

4. Prick the potatoes and microwave until just tender. Set aside to cool. Once cool, slice into rounds leaving the skin intact. Set aside.

5. Add the milk, flour and butter to a pan and over a medium low heat, whisk together until it thickens and turns into a rich creamy sauce. Add your cheese and nutritional yeast and stir together until the cheese melts. Season well with salt and pepper.

6. Once you're happy with your meat sauce,  its time to assemble. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves and stir through the parsley and a good grating of fresh nutmeg. Take your baking dish and add a layer of the aubergine in the base. Top with half of your sauce, spreading it evenly. Next add a layer of potato and cover with the remaining meat sauce. Finish with a final layer of aubergine then pour over your béchamel sauce to cover the aubergine. Add a grating of fresh nutmeg and then place into the oven and bake until the top is golden and bubbling.

​Serve with a green salad and fresh tomatoes. Crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce would be a good addition too. 

Traditionally this little gem should feature strawberries, but I was gifted some homegrown peaches and raspberries and this seemed the perfect way to use them. The recipe is a dream to make, with no unusual or hard to find ingredients, so it would be perfect to whip up at short notice. I've added the orange zest just to give an interesting twist.

A little bit of trivia - the earliest recorded recipe for shortcake is in an English cookbook dating back to 1588!!

Ingredients

3 cups self raising flour
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Grated zest of an orange
3/4 cup butter
1 cup soy milk 
2 tsps. apple cider vinegar

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Mix together the milk and apple cider vinegar and leave to one side.

In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and orange zest together. Then rub in the butter until it resembles course breadcrumbs, Try to be as light handed as possible. (Alternatively, use a food processor to pulse the butter into the dry ingredients).

Pour the milk mix into the flour mix and bring together using a wooden spoon until its just combined. It's very important to not overwork the dough, which will be quite wet and sticky. Place the dough onto your baking sheet and, using floured hands, shape roughly into a 20cm x 20cm square. Using a sharp knife, mark out 9 squares to make it easy to portion once baked. 

Brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and place it into the oven for approximately 20 minutes until golden on top. 


Allow to cool and then split and fill with your chosen cream substitute and whatever fruit you fancy. I used whipped coconut cream mixed with icing sugar and vanilla extract. ​

Tofu is one of those ingredients I really struggled with when I started my Vegan life. My first experience of it was at a restaurant and to say I was underwhelmed would be a huge understatement. It was floppy, pale, tasteless and added nothing to the dish. It was a while before I plucked up the courage to try it again. Fast forward almost four years and now I love it - as long as its prepared and cooked the right way. 

This dish incorporates interesting flavours and textures and isn't hard to prepare. Whenever I'm making a dish where tofu is centre stage, I like to slice a large slab into three, lengthways, so my little family doesn't end up fighting over any leftover odd pieces, but you can cut yours into any shape you like. 

I've used hazelnut and thyme here, but please feel free to experiment with other flavours. Almond and rosemary, for example, would be equally as good.



Ingredients for the crispy tofu

1 450g (approx.) packet of firm tofu sliced and prepared (* see note below)
1/2 cup (approx.) hazelnuts or hazelnut meal
1/2 cup panko or regular breadcrumbs
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
2 to 3 tsps. dried thyme
1 tbsp. chickn stock powder (I use Massel reduced salt in the tin)
Good grinding of black pepper

3/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk (I use soy)
1 tbsp. chickn stock powder

Vegetable oil for shallow frying


Ingredients for the mushroom sauce

250g mushrooms sliced (I use Swiss Brown)
Garlic cloves finely grated (I'll leave the amount up to you)
1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashew nuts
1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant milk (again, I use soy)
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp onion powder
​Olive oil
Knob of Vegan butter
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice
Nutritional yeast (optional)

Method

Firstly, place your cashews to soak in the plant milk ready to make your mushroom sauce later.

If you're using whole hazelnuts then blitz these to a course texture in a food processor or blender. In a bowl combine the hazelnut meal, crumbs, wholemeal flour, dried thyme, chickn stock powder and pepper. Don't be afraid to have a taste of the dry mix and add more thyme or pepper, etc if you feel it needs it. When you're happy, place onto a large plate and set aside.

Now mix together your chickpea flour, plant milk and stock powder to a creamy paste. It should be the consistency of thick custard. Place it into a wide shallow bowl and set aside along with the coating mix.


To make the mushroom sauce, add a glug of olive oil to a frying pan and throw in your sliced mushrooms and grated garlic. Sautee over a medium heat until the mushrooms take on some colour and most of the liquid has evaporated. Now add in your chopped thyme and butter, combine well, and turn the heat down to low. 

Blitz up your cashews and milk until very smooth and add to the mushrooms in stages, stirring well. The cashew mix will thicken so you may need to add a little more milk depending on how juicy your mushrooms are. Season well with salt and pepper, add in your onion powder and keep tasting and stirring until you are happy with the consistency and flavour. Add in nutritional yeast to taste, if using.  Turn out the heat and set aside while we deal with the tofu.


​Heat about 1cm depth of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Set up a production line of your tofu, paste and crumbs next to your frying pan. Once your oil is hot enough, take your first piece of tofu and, working quickly but confidently, coat it in the paste, shake off the excess and then press it firmly into the crumb mix, turning and coating all sides then place to one side of the plate. Repeat the process with a couple more slices. Place them carefully into the hot oil and allow them to fry until you can see them gaining colour and turning crispy. Carefully turn each piece using a spatula and fry the other side. Once golden, transfer to kitchen paper to drain. Repeat if you have more slices of tofu.

Now all you need to do is gently reheat your sauce, adding a squeeze of lemon, and serve. This goes well with rice, polenta, potatoes, etc. ​

​

* ​One thing to note is that tofu is always better if its frozen and then thawed before using. The reasoning behind this is that the little gaps within the tofu form ice crystals which, when defrosted, means that more liquid can be expelled during pressing to give a firmer texture. I always keep a few packets in the freezer at all times. Simply thaw in the packet in warm water before slicing and placing in a single layer between several  sheets of kitchen paper. Press the wrapped package between two chopping board and place a weight on top, such a books or a heavy pestle and mortar. You'll end up with a much denser, chewier finish that crisps up so much better as it contains less liquid.

This is something I used to make very often pre-Vegan. It's relatively simple, but the unusual flavours are so good together that it makes a great dish for entertaining. Choose your parsnips carefully for this. Ideally, you want small, tender ones without the woody centre. 

I like to vary the herb used also. Favourites are tarragon, lemon thyme or rosemary. I've used tarragon today as my herb garden is groaning with it at the moment.

This recipe will serve 3 to 4 people as a main meal.

Ingredients

1 leek finely sliced
1 garlic clove finely chopped or grated
1 glass dry white wine
Fresh tarragon leaves plus extra for garnish
3 or 4 small parsnips cut into strips lengthways using a veg peeler (you can leave the skin on)
3 to 4 slices of Vegan bacon (I used Vegie Delights) chopped
Vegan butter
400g dried pasta
1 tbsp. vegetable stock powder
Freshly ground black pepper
Good squeeze of lemon
Vegan parmesan

Over a low to medium heat, place a knob of butter into a frying pan. Fry the chopped bacon for a couple of minutes before adding in the shredded leek and garlic and sautee until the leek starts to soften. Add in your parsnips, wine, a tbsp. of finely chopped tarragon and the vegetable stock powder and continue to cook until the liquid has reduced and the parsnips are tender. 

Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

Add your cooked pasta to the parsnips. bacon and leek and toss well to combine.  Add in a good knob of butter, a squeeze of lemon, a splash of the pasta water, a good grind of black pepper and mix until everything is combined and glossy. 

Serve sprinkled with Vegan parmesan and chopped fresh tarragon.

These chewy biccies are loaded with goodies. They are very easy to make, and even easier to eat!!! 

The recipe will make 16 to 20 biscuits, depending on how large you like them. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup Vegan butter
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup plant milk
1 1/2 cups plain flour
5 medjool dates stoned and finely chopped
3/4 cup unsalted peanuts roughly chopped
100g dark chocolate chopped


Method

Preheat your oven to 180C. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the two butters and sugar until light and fluffy. I use an electric mixer for this but a wooden spoon and plenty of elbow grease will work also.

Next add in the milk and approximately half of the flour and beat again until smooth.

Finally add in the peanuts, dates, chocolate and remaining flour and gently mix together with a spoon until everything is well incorporated. 

Now go in with your hands and bring the mix to a dough. Divide the dough in half and roll each batch into a thick sausage shape. Cut discs from the dough (I did eight from each batch) and place onto the baking sheet. Flatten and shape with your hands and then straight into the oven for ten minutes. 
​
Remove and place on a wire rack to cool. 

Cauliflower rice is a great way to increase your vegetable intake and makes for a much lighter "rice style" dish. The added vegetables I've used here are what I had on hand at the time, but feel free to use whatever you fancy, or have. This recipe makes a lot, but its easily halved or scaled down.

The tofu recipe creates the most tasty, crispy tofu with minimal effort. You can vary the ingredients to take advantage of different spices or dried herbs you have, or to match a particular side dish. 

Ingredients for the Cauliflower Rice dish

1 medium head of cauliflower (stalk included)

The following finely diced
1 large carrot
1 red pepper
2 sticks celery
1 courgette

The following finely sliced
3 spring onions 
5 or 6 snow peas 
3 or 4 kale leaves 

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 tbsp. of either Indian or Thai curry paste 
2 tbsp. stock powder (I used chicken style)
1 inch piece fresh ginger finely grated
1 garlic clove finely grated
1 red chilli finely chopped

Fresh herbs (I used parsley and coriander)
Fresh lemon or lime
Black pepper

The first thing you need to do is roughly break down the cauliflower head and place it in a food processor with the blade attachment. Process in bursts until you achieve a rice like texture. 

In a small bowl place your curry paste, stock powder, ginger, chilli and garlic and add about 1/2 cup of hot or boiling water and stir until the paste and stock powder are all dissolved. 

Heat a wok or large frying pan. Add in all your chopped and sliced veg, peas and a spoon or two of your stock mixture and stir fry for five minutes or so. Tip in your cauliflower rice and stir it through the veg. With the heat on moderately high, add in the remainder of your stock mixture and keep moving the rice around for another five minutes or so until the majority of the liquid has evaporated and the veg are tender. 

Stir through your fresh herbs just before serving and add a good squeeze of lemon or lime juice and a good grind of black pepper.



Ingredients for the Crispy Tofu

1 large block of firm or extra firm tofu frozen, defrosted, then cut into slices and pressed.

Aquafaba saved from any can of pulses or beans

The following in a screw top jar (I use an old pickle jar as an indication of size)
Wholemeal flour to come halfway up the jar
1 tbsp. stock powder
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. garam masala or any powdered spices you fancy

Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Screw the lid on the jar and shake the dry ingredients together until all well mixed. Lay the mix out in an even layer on a plate. 

Place the aquafaba in a shallow bowl. Dip the tofu pieces into the aquafaba, shake off the excess and quickly press into the dry mix to coat. Place straight into the hot oil and fry on one side until crispy and golden. Flip, fry the other side and allow to drain on kitchen paper. 

Serve with mango chutney, sweet chilli sauce or similar. 

Who doesn't love a good pie? They have to be the ultimate comfort food when the weather turns colder. Making your own pies is so satisfying and these are very easy - I promise!! I used shop bought puff pastry for convenience, but you can of course make your own pastry if you prefer. Shortcrust would work just as well. This recipe made four deep filled pies, so you could probably get six regular depth from the filling amount,  or one large family pie. 

​Ingredients for the filling

1 large onion diced
​1 head of broccoli (stalk removed and florets broken down)
​1/2 small cauliflower (again, stalk removed and florets broken down)
1 clove garlic (grated or finely chopped)
​1 tbsp thyme leaves 
​1 glass white wine (or veg stock)
3 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp vegan butter
​2 cups plant milk
​1 tbsp veg stock powder
​1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (feel free to use more!!)
​2 cups grated vegan cheese
​Chopped fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper
​Juice of half a lemon

​You'll also need ready rolled puff pastry sheets (amount depends on your pie dishes)
​Extra butter for frying
​Extra milk to brushing on the pie tops


​Method

Place a knob of butter into a large pan on a medium heat. Add in your diced onion, garlic and thyme and allow to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften. Add in your cauliflower and broccoli florets and the wine or stock. Turn your heat down to low, cover your pan, and allow to gently cook until almost tender. 10 or so minutes should do it. Remove from the heat and set aside while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce place your milk, butter, flour, veg stock powder and mustard into a medium sized pan. Whisk over a low to medium heat until the butter melts and the sauce begins to heat and thicken. Once thickened and smooth, turn your heat to low and add in your grated cheese. Depending on what cheese you used, it may take a while for it to break down and melt into the sauce. Keep giving it a stir to help it along. Once you're happy, add your nutritional yeast, a good squeeze of lemon and check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper if you like.

​Add your sauce to your vegetables, along with your chopped fresh parsley and stir well to combine. Set aside to cool completely.

Preheat your oven to 180C.

​Use your pastry to line whatever pie dish or dishes you are using. Fill with your now cool filling and top with your pastry lid. Brush with milk and place on a baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven and bake until your pastry is golden brown. The filling is already cooked, so we're just reheating that, and cooking the pastry. A little sauce may escape and bubble over, but I think that makes it even more appealing. 

Serve with mash or chips and lashings of gravy!! Oh, and if you're from South Yorkshire, homemade mint sauce is compulsory!!

It's official - I'm obsessed with cauliflower!! It's such a versatile vegetable that you can't help but love it. I recently stumbled across the phenomenon that is a cauli steak and, having explored all the flavours and methods I could think of for a steak, decided the next natural progression was to wrap it in puff pastry for the ultimate Wellington. I also added a duxelle for extra flavour and interest. This recipe will serve four if you use a large cauliflower, and you'll have trimmings left over to use in another dish. 

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower trimmed of leaves
2 sheets Vegan frozen puff pastry
Half quantity of vegan ricotta ricotta.html
Approx 2 cups of grated raw mushrooms (I used Swiss Browns)
Handful of finely crushed walnuts
Half a cup of breadcrumbs
Approx 3 to 5 (depending on size) fresh sage leaves finely chopped
Cup or so of fresh spinach leaves
Milk of choice for brushing the pastry

Once you've made your ricotta, take half and place in a bowl along with the walnuts, sage and breadcrumbs. Gently fry your grated mushrooms in a little Vegan butter until all the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms are quite dry. Allow to cool and then mix in with your ricotta and other ingredients until well combined. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if you need to. Allow to chill in the fridge while you deal with the cauliflower.​

Take your cauliflower and carefully trim any excess stalk sticking out from the bottom. Don't remove too much as this is essentially the backbone to hold it together. Place your cauli, stalk up, on the board in front of you and, using a sharp knife, place the blade against one side of the stalk and cut down to remove the surplus florets to give you a straight edge to one side. Spin the cauli around and do exactly the same to the opposite side. You'll be left with one huge steak of cauliflower. Carefully slice down the centre of the steak to give you two evenly sized slices. Add a little Vegan butter or olive oil to the pan and fry each steak until slightly tender and coloured. Set aside to cool completely before assembling the Wellingtons. Preheat your oven to 190C.

Once your cauliflower and Duxelle are cool, lay out a sheet of defrosted puff pastry. Spoon half of your Duxelle mix into the centre of the pastry and position one of your cauli steaks on top. Lay a few raw spinach leaves on top of the cauliflower and then gently bring up the corners of the pastry one by one to join in the middle. Use a little splash of milk between each fold to create a seal as you do this. Don't worry too much about how the seal looks as this will be the underside. Gently flip the whole thing over and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Repeat with your remaining ingredients and brush the two Wellingtons with milk, before placing in the oven on the middle shelf. 

This is one of those recipes that came about after a rummage around in the vegetable drawer in the fridge. I had some broccoli trimmings leftover from another dish and was trying to think of an unusual way to use them up. Another search in the fridge turned up some cashew parmesan cheese that I'd made earlier in the week and the flatbread idea just came to me. These would be great as part of a platter to serve with dips, cheese and pickles or just as an accompaniment to a curry or similar.

Ingredients

4 cups wholemeal flour
2 cups broccoli
1 cup grated Vegan cheese
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
Olive oil
Warm water

The first thing you need to do is blitz the broccoli in a food processor using the chopping blades. It needs to be broken down to resemble a cous cous type texture. Using a dough blade, add the flour, broccoli, cheese, yeast flakes and seasoning to your food processor and pulse until its all combined. Drizzle in a good couple of tablespoons of olive oil and with the processor running, slowly add warm water until a dough forms. 

Place your dough onto a floured surface and shape into a long roll. Using a sharp knife, cut into slices (I made 12 breads). Keep your board well floured to prevent sticking as the dough is quite soft, and roll out a piece of dough into a largish circle. Heat a frying pan until smoking hot. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan and fry the bread on both sides until golden brown and slightly puffy. Keep repeating the rolling and frying until all your dough is used. 

And thats all there is to it. You can make these any size you like. The broccoli flavour really comes through and is a great way to use up odds and ends, or the stalks, that might otherwise go to waste. 

This was one of those recipes that I thought up the day before shopping day when ingredients were a little limited. The stew itself is a one pot wonder and would be equally as delicious served without the tofu. 

Ingredients

1 large onion 
1 large carrot 
2 celery sticks
1 red pepper
1 red chilli pepper
(all the above fairly finely chopped)
1 can chickpeas drained
1 jar passata
1 tbsp each of ground cumin and coriander (use less if you like)
Two stock cubes either chickn or vegetable
1 rosemary sprig
Fresh corriander and parsley chopped
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Approx 300g extra firm tofu pressed and cut into cubes
1/2 cup cornflour
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 chickn stock cube crumbled
Black pepper
Olive oil


Add a glug of olive oil to your fry pan and sautee the chopped veg with the rosemary sprig until the veg are almost tender but still have a little resistance. Add in your crumbled stock cubes, the ground spices, the chickpeas and the passata (rinsing out the jar with a little water) and stir to combine. Allow to gently simmer until all the veg are tender and the sauce is nice and thick. Use your judgment and add a little water along the way if the sauce starts to becomes too thick. About 30 to 40 minutes should be fine. Add in your chopped fresh herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Whilst your stew is gently simmering, preheat your oven to 180C. Combine your cornflour and spices in a large bowl and toss your tofu cubes to coat. Place a sheet of baking paper onto a metal baking tray and place your tofu in a single layer. Drizzle the tofu generously with oil. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the cubes are crispy and turning golden brown.

Serve over your accompaniment of choice and garnish with extra fresh herbs and maybe a slice or two of fresh red chilli.

Yorkshires! I'd have to hang my head in shame if I couldn't create a Vegan version of these beauties! Born and bred in South Yorkshire, every Sunday dinner was preceded by a plate full of fluffy, golden Yorkshires, rich gravy and homemade mint sauce. Back in the day, farmers' wives used to serve them this way to take the edge off the workers' appetites, as butcher's meat was an expensive commodity. The rest of the meal was viewed with detachment after a belly full of Yorkshire Pud. I've tried various methods to try and achieve the perfect result and this is as close as I'm going to get. Traditionally, Yorkshires are always made with plain flour and the egg provides the rise. This version needs the help of the rising agent in the self raising flour, and although these puddings taste exactly the same as traditional recipe ones, they won't get the same high sided rise that we are used to. I always favour taste over look anyway. Right, onto the recipe. This recipe makes 12 muffin tin sized puddings

The first and most important thing is to turn your oven on to its highest heat setting. If you have fan forced, even better. 

Ingredients

Vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 and 1/2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup cold water
Egg replacer to the value of 6 eggs (don't make it up yet) I use Orgran brand. It's the best I've tried.
1 tsp baking powder
Good pinch of salt

I know 6 egg value egg replacer sounds crazy - but I recently made the recipe incorrectly using this amount and it turned out the best I'd ever made. It reminded me that pre-vegan I used to use the volume method where the flour, liquid and eggs were all the same quantities. So I'm sticking to that recipe from now on. 

Place about 1 tbs vegetable oil into each cavity of the muffin tray. Place your tray on the middle shelf in your oven and leave there while we make up the batter. 

​Sieve your flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl and whisk in your milk and water until you have a smooth batter. Place into the fridge to chill for ten minutes.

Check your tin in the oven. If your eyes sting when you open the oven door, then the oil is hot enough. Leave for a little longer if not. It's the best test for hot oil!

Once the oil is ready, make up your egg replacer according to the packet instructions. Take out your batter, give it a good vigorous whisk, and gently stir the replacer through. 

Carefully remove your hot tin and, working quickly, pour the batter into each cavity almost to the top (they will immediately rise a little). Don't worry if they aren't all perfect. Any leftover batter can  be used to thicken your gravy. Put them straight back into the oven. Now its most important that you do not open the oven door, If you do they will almost certainly sink. Leave them for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown and risen. 

Serve immediately with lashings of gravy either as an appetiser to a main meal or as part of a Sunday Vegan roast dinner. 

Pasta has earned itself a reputation as being fiddly and hard to make. Not true! It couldn't be easier. This dough is silky and elastic and doesn't even need to be put through a pasta roller. It's a dream to roll by hand. Here's the recipe for the basic dough.

Ingredients

1 and 2/3 cups 00 pasta flour
2/3 cup water
Pinch of turmeric

Simply place your flour and turmeric in a bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and pour the water in. Use a spoon to just bring it to a crumbly amalgamation (see second pic below).

Then go in with your hands and work the dough into a rough ball, making sure all the flour is incorporated. Then transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes, until the dough becomes a silky smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. 

Now you can decide whether to roll by hand or use a machine. I always roll by hand - a quarter portion at a time on a well floured surface. Keep lifting and flouring your dough in between the rolling. 

You can cut and cook the dough straight away in boiling salted water for about 2 to 3 minutes or you can dry to use later. There are so many variations you can make too. Try adding a tablespoon of very finely chopped rosemary and thyme to the flour before adding the water for a herb pasta, or blitz up some wilted spinach with the water to make spinach pasta. A pinch of saffron added to the water and allowed to steep before adding to the flour is a great version too - the colour is very intense. Below are some dishes I've made using this pasta dough recipe. 

A little old fashioned nowadays maybe - but some recipes are worth keeping alive, and this is one of them. Traditionally this was eaten sliced and loaded with butter and accompanied by a good old cup of tea. The secret to this loaf is the soaking of the fruit overnight in cold tea. I've added a couple of extra ingredients just to jazz it up a bit. The addition of the whiskey is a personal nod to us Yorkshire folk drinking tea with a splash of whiskey in it to keep the cold out in Winter. 

Ingredients

350ml freshly made strong black tea
375g mixed dried fruit
A good splosh of whiskey (optional)
A couple of pieces of fresh orange peel

Place all the above in a large bowl and leave to soak overnight. The fruit will become plump and soak up a lot of the liquid.

Egg replacer made up to two egg value (I used Orgran)
200g brown sugar
280g self raising flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)

Preheat your oven to 160C. Grease and line a loaf tin.​

Remove the orange peel from the fruit and add the sugar, egg replacer and the spices. Use a large spoon to combine the ingredients well. Sieve in the flour and once again, combine the ingredients in a folding motion until all the flour is incorporated. Pour the mixture into your lined loaf tin and place in the middle of the oven. 

Bake for at least an hour. Test using a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf. If it comes out clean, then it's done. Leave for another ten or so minutes if you need to. Allow to cool before slicing, buttering and enjoying with a good strong cuppa! If you have the patience - leaving it for a day or two wrapped in baking paper and foil will give you a sticky, absolutely heavenly teabread. 

Whenever I think of my childhood, certain times stand out. Christmas, birthdays, holidays and bonfire night. November the 5th was always a big deal for us. Dad would buy the fireworks and spend the afternoon setting up the display in the garden and raiding the garage and shed for wood for the bonfire. Mum would be in the kitchen frying up large pans full of caramelised onions for the hot dogs and there'd be a mountain of potatoes roasting in the oven ready to be partnered with butter and salt. Then there'd be her flapjack, all buttery and golden and cut into huge slabs. Sometimes she'd let us get "fancy" and drizzle it with melted chocolate. Good times. This might possibly be the easiest flapjack recipe ever.

Ingredients

330g rolled oats
225g butter (I used Nuttelex buttery)
6 tbsp golden syrup (I used Tate and Lyle's as that's what Mum would use)

Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9" square baking tin.

Place the butter and syrup in a large pan and gently heat until the butter is melted. Add in the oats and stir well to combine. Make sure the oats are all coated well in the buttery mixture. Spoon the mixture into your lined tin and flatten out the surface evenly. Place into your oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and while it's still warm and in the tin, use a sharp knife and cut into pieces. I made 9 from mine. Leave until it's completely cold (I put mine in the fridge) then remove from the tin and store in an airtight container. I couldn't resist getting "fancy" with a few pieces!

Gnocchi is one of those things that can seem intimidating to make yourself. This is an easy recipe that's just a little more interesting than it's regular potato sibling because of the addition of the extra ingredients. The ricotta is from the recipe below this one on the blog, ricotta.html but without any of the extra additions - so just the soy milk, apple cider vinegar processed as per the recipe and then strained. To prepare the butternut squash and potato elements, cut up roughly half a butternut squash into large chunks (leave the skin on), lay on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Add a couple of whole medium sized potatoes to the tray and roast at 180C until the potatoes and squash are tender. Once cool, remove the squash and potato skins to just leave the flesh. This recipe uses roughly a cup of each, either passed through a potato ricer or mashed well until very smooth.

Ingredients

1 cup mashed potato
1 cup mashed butternut squash
1/2 cup ricotta
Self raising flour (I use gluten free as it makes a lighter gnocchi) 
Zest of one lemon
Salt and Pepper

Place your potato, squash, ricotta and lemon zest into a large bowl and mix well to combine. Season really well with salt and pepper and give it a taste. Add more salt if you feel it needs it. The flavour will be knocked back a little when you add the flour. Add your flour half a cup at a time and gently mix to incorporate it into the squash and potato mix. I use my hands for this part as you can gauge the texture better. You're looking for a dough that when pressed, leaves an indent, but isn't sticky. Use as much flour you feel you need to, as the wetness of the squash and potato mix can vary greatly. Set aside to rest for a while.

Flour your work surface and take roughly a third of your dough and gently roll it backwards and forwards with the palms of your hands on the floured surface until you achieve a long even sausage​ shape. Use a sharp knife to cut even sized pieces from the dough. Place onto a floured plate or board.

Bring a large pan of salted water to a rolling boil. Gently drop in your gnocchi in batches of about 10. Keep the water boiling and as soon as the gnocchi rise to the surface, they are done. Use a slotted spoon to lift them out of the water and press the spoon onto a few sheets of kitchen paper to drain any excess water off before transferring to a plate or similar. Repeat with the rest of the gnocchi. 

You can now serve these as they are or, as I like to do, pan fry them in a little Vegan butter to achieve a lovely colour and a crispy outer. They are great with a rich tomato sauce, a pesto or just simply with some sage butter.

I've made tofu ricotta in the past and really enjoyed it, but I could never get it as smooth as I'd like and it always had a strong tofu flavour. The method for this ricotta is very authentic and leaves you with a cheese you can enjoy as is, or flavour any way you like. The only essential items you'll need to make this is a fine sieve and some tight weave fabric. 

Ingredients

1 litre of soy milk
5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Finely grated zest of a lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder (optional)
​1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

First thing you need to do is heat the milk in a pan until it just comes to boiling point. Remove from the heat and stir through your apple cider vinegar. The milk will curdle and look awful, which is just how it should be. Leave to cool.

Line your sieve with the fabric and place over a large bowl. Pour your cool milk mixture into the sieve and let it sit for approximately 15 minutes to allow the liquid to drain.

Gather the edges of your cloth together and gently squeeze the cheese until you get as much liquid out as you can, then place your ricotta into a clean bowl. Add in your lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper to taste and the stock powder and nutritional yeast if you are using them. Stir well to combine and check for seasoning. Add more salt if you feel it needs it.

Now its up to you how creative you want to be. Its great as it is, or you can shape it and flavour it any way you like. Dried dill is a lovely addition or you can shape and roll in chopped fresh herbs or cracked black pepper. It's also great baked at 180C until lightly browned on the surface. It makes a lovely addition to pasta dishes or just served as part of a cheeseboard with crackers, pickles, etc.

I don't claim to be a fantastic bread maker, but I seem to be able to always turn out a decent loaf. This method is certainly not traditional, in that I use a food processor to take care of all the hard work, but it can be made the "proper" way if you prefer. Just bring the ingredients together in a large bowl, stick on your favourite album and knead your way through two songs! You'll be able to carry on following the instructions from then on. The finished bread has quite a dense texture - but isn't dry at all. The little hits of sweetness and crunch from the apricots and walnuts just elevates it from a regular wholemeal loaf. It's great with savoury dishes or just toasted and spread with lashings of Vegan butter. 

Ingredients

500g wholemeal flour (with extra for dusting)
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dried yeast
2 tsp salt
320 ml warm water

First we need to get the yeast activated. Add your sugar and yeast to the water and stir to combine. Leave for about ten minutes until frothy. Add your flour, apricots, walnuts and salt to the bowl of your food processor, with the dough attachment in place. (If you're making by hand, place all these ingredients into a large bowl and give it a stir.)

Pour in your yeast mixture and process for about 2 minutes until a lovely silky dough is formed. (If you're making by hand, make a well in your dry ingredients and pour in your yeast mix. Bring to a dough and knead for about 8 to 10 minutes).

Once you're happy with your dough in the processor,, turn it out onto a floured surface and give it a quick knead to bring it all together. (Here's where both methods continue the same way from now.) Place into a large clean bowl, dust with a little flour and cover with either a tea towel or a sheet of cling film. Leave in a warm place until the dough has roughly doubled in size (about an hour.)

Preheat your oven to 210C.

Uncover your dough and punch out the air. Back onto your lightly floured surface and knead lightly again and shape into a loaf. Place onto a baking tray lined with a sheet of baking paper and, using a sharp knife, cut several slashes into the surface of the dough. Lightly dust with flour and cover again for a further 30 minutes for its final rise.

Uncover and place it in your oven on the tray.. Allow to bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remove the tray after this time and turn the loaf over onto its top, so the bottom gets nice and crusty too. Place back into the oven for a further 10 to 15 minutes. The loaf is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Leave to cool slightly before slicing and enjoying. I hope you enjoy this bread as much as we do.

This soup is so simple and so full of flavour. It knocks spots off its tinned counterparts. There's hardly any preparation and the hardest part of the whole thing is passing the soup through a sieve before serving. 

Ingredients

5 or 6 large truss tomatoes (leave stalks intact)
1 large carrot (roughly chopped into large pieces)
1 large onion (peeled and quartered)
1 red chilli 
1 large garlic clove (skin on)
1 jar of passata
2 vegetable stock cubes
1/4 cup coconut cream
1 bunch basil
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Place the tomatoes, carrot, onion, chilli and garlic on a lined baking sheet, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop the tray into the oven and allow to roast until the carrots are tender and the onions are just starting to colour. Remove from the oven and place everything (stalks, skins and all) into a large pan on the stove top. Add in your passata and rinse the jar out well with water filled to halfway and add to the pot. Chop your basil bunch in half and add the half with the stalks.  Crumble in your vegetable stock cubes and gently heat the soup through. 

Once the soup is warm, blitz (again, stalks and all) using a stick blender or food processor, etc. Once its fairly smooth, have a clean pan ready with a sieve resting on it.  Transfer the soup to the sieve a ladle full at a time and work the liquid through the sieve. Try and get the residue in the sieve as dry as possible to allow maximum flavour in the finished soup.  I promise the end result will be worth it. Once you've worked through the whole pan, reheat your now smooth soup, stir through your coconut cream and add salt and pepper if you feel it needs it. The coconut cream is just enough to give a velvety finish, but not enough to alter the tomato flavour. You're ready to serve now. This is great just "as is" with a chunk of crusty bread - or you can jazz it up with tortellini, a drizzle of coconut cream and extra basil. 

Who could say no to buttery, crumbly pastry covered in chewy caramel and blanketed in thick dark chocolate. These are so easy to make and so good to eat. 

Ingredients for the base

1 cup SR flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar
125g melted vegan butter

Ingredients for the caramel layer

320g coconut condensed milk
5 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
Pinch of salt

250g plain chocolate to finish.


Preheat your oven to 180C.

Firstly, blitz up the flour, almond meal, coconut and sugar in a food processor or similar and add in the melted butter. Once combined, press into a lined 9 x 9" tin or similar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Pop into the fridge to firm up while we get on with the caramel.

Place the condensed coconut milk, syrup, coconut oil and salt into a small pan and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. Lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes, stirring all the time. The caramel will change to a rich golden colour. If you want a more chewy caramel, take it a little further, say another two or three minutes - but watch it like a hawk. You don't want the caramel to burn. Allow it to cool before pouring onto your biscuit base. Return the tin to the fridge to set the caramel.

Once the caramel has set, break up your chocolate and place it in a microwaveable bowl. Heat in the microwave in 1 minute bursts until melted. Carefully pour it over your caramel and return to the fridge for the final time. Allow to set firm before cutting into pieces. The size of the pieces is totally up to you!!

Even though I'm coming up to my second anniversary of turning Vegan, I still have fond memories of many meat products from my childhood. Even though the originals won't be passing my lips ever again, I see no harm in trying to recreate the look, texture and taste of them. After all, I didn't go Vegan because I didn't like the taste. The Pork Pie is an institution in England. It's particularly popular at Christmas as part of a buffet tea served with sauces and pickles. This Vegan one has the exact look and feel - even down to the jelly layer in between the meat and pastry. I already knew how to do the hot water crust, so it was just a matter of working on the insides to get the authentic look and taste. I'm extremely happy and proud of the way they turned out on my first attempt. These do have a few steps in the process - but completely worth it if you were a fan of them. I'll give you the ingredients for each element and then we'll go through the method. This recipe makes 6 muffin pan sized pies. I'd recommend reading through the recipe a couple of times before starting.

Ingredients for the hot water crust

300g plain flour
130g vegetable shortening
80ml water
Pinch of salt

Ingredients for the "pork" filling

4 Linda McCartney's sausages
1 small onion
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
​1/4 whole fresh nutmeg grated
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp mustard
Salt and pepper

Ingredients for the jelly layer

1 cup cooled chicken style stock (or vegetable if you prefer)
2 tsp Jel-It-In 

First we need to make our pastry. Into a bowl with your flour and salt and grate in half of the vegetable shortening. Rub together using your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Now take a small saucepan and have it on a low to medium heat. Place your water and remaining vegetable shortening into it and heat until the fat has melted and the liquid is hot (not boiling). Pour this liquid into your flour mix and stir together using a wooden spoon. As soon as its cool enough to handle, go in with your hands and bring together to a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge while you make the sausage filling.

Place all your ingredients for the filling into a food processor and blitz. It needs to be quite coarse, but blended enough to hold its shape. To check, pinch some of the mixture between your finger and thumb. It should hold together. Once you're happy, place into a bowl and pop it in the fridge to chill while you deal with the next step.

Now we need to shape the pie bases. Take your pastry out of the fridge and give it a bit of a kneed to warm it up. Divide into 6 equal pieces. Take one piece and remove roughly a 5th of it (this will form the pie lid). Take the large part and form into a ball before placing it on a lightly floured surface and, using your fingers, gently tease and press out into a rough circle. It needs to be large enough to fill the muffin tin and have an overhang to help form the seal for the lid. Press your circle gently into the tin, making sure you don't create any cracks or holes. Repeat the process with the other 5 pieces. Cover the tray and the lid pieces of dough with a damp teatowel while we work on the filling. Preheat your oven to 200C.

Take your sausage mix out of the fridge. We need to pre-bake these before adding them to the pastry cases to ensure they retain their shape when they get their final baking in the pie crust. Take an amount about the size of an apricot. Shape it into a round and just check it against the size of your pie bottoms. It needs to be smaller and not any higher than the pastry case as we need a gap to hold the jelly layer. If you're happy, place on a lined baking sheet. Repeat this process until you have all six done. If you have spares leftover, just carry on shaping, as these can become "Chef's perks" later. Place these into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and then pop one into each pastry shell upside down so that the flat bottom of the sausage is uppermost. Take out your spare dough and give it a quick kneed before pressing out into circles large enough to cover the top of the bases. Brush the edges of one of the base with a little water and lay a lid over the top. Pinch and squeeze the lid and base edges together to form a seal. We're also trying to create a little raised collar to get the traditional look of the pie. Then using a skewer or similar, poke a hole in the centre of the lid. Repeat with the other 5. 

Brush with a little milk and pop them into the oven for 40 minutes. After that time, remove each pie from the tray and place them onto a lined baking sheet and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while we deal with the jelly filling.

Place a third of your stock into a small bowl and sprinkle over your Jel-It-In. Mix until the powder is all dissolved. Whisk this into the remainder of the stock in a small pan. Heat and simmer for approximately a minute, stirring constantly. Now we need to get this mixture into the pies through the holes in the top of the lids. I used a syringe for this, but you can just spoon it in, or use a small funnel.  So whatever method you're using, carry on loading up the jelly until it spills out of the hole in the top. If your jelly begins to set in the pan, just gently reheat. Repeat until all six are done and then just leave to cool completely. Serve as part of a huge platter of goodies - but the essential thing is to serve with either ketchup or brown sauce and pickles.

I belong to a fantastic foodie group on Facebook called Australian Vegan Foodies. Every week we have a optional theme to encourage our members to get into the kitchen. This week we had a British theme. As an expat, this was right up my street. Growing up in England, Scotch eggs were a regular sight on buffet tables at family get togethers. I've recently been dabbling with making replica egg dishes using tofu as the white and a besan flour based paste for the yolk. So I could see no reason why a Scotch egg was beyond the realms of possibility. I'm not going to pretend that this isn't a time consuming, fiddly process, but the end result is a pretty cracking replica of the real thing. There are three parts to the process - the making of the "boiled egg", the sausage outer and then the breadcrumb crispy coating. The egg white is made from extra firm tofu and I used Linda McCartney's sausages as they have the most authentic taste and have the perfect consistency when blended to hold together for frying and oven baking. So onto the recipe and method. This will make four large Scotch eggs.

Ingredients for the egg

1 300g block extra firm tofu drained and patted dry
1 tbsp besan flour
1 to 2tbsp plant milk
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp nutritional yeast
large pinch of Indian black salt (this gives the eggy flavour to the yolk)

Ingredients for the sausage layer

6 Linda McCartney's sausages defrosted
​1/2 an onion
1/2 tin white beans drained
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and Pepper

You will also need a couple of cups of breadcrumbs.

So first things first - the egg. Cut your block of tofu into four equal pieces. Now you have to get creative and carve an egg shape out of each piece. Start from the top and round of the end with a sharp knife. Turn it around and do the same to the other end. Then shave away the edges and corners until you have a rough egg shape. It doesn't need to be perfect. See pics.

Then cut in half down the middle of each egg and lay flat. Using a small sharp knife, cut out a hollow in each half. Place your halves in a steamer with the hollow upwards. Now we need to make up the yolk. Put your besan flour, nutritional yeast, turmeric and black salt into a small bowl. Add in 1tbsp of plant milk at first and stir to a paste. You will probably need to add more milk, so do it a little at a time. You're looking for a thick paste, but it still needs to be liquid enough to drop off the spoon. Gently fill each hollow of the egg with a spoon of yolk. Don't overfill. Now steam for approx 4 to 5 mins. Allow to cool slightly before sandwiching each egg together and placing into the fridge to allow them to set and seal.

While your eggs are chilling, we can move onto the sausage layer. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until everything is a smoothish consistency. Don't overwork it though. Put it in the fridge to cool for 10 minutes or so to chill with the eggs.

Now we're ready for assembly. Take a quarter of your sausage meat and flatten it out in the palm of your hand. Place an egg in the centre and gently ease up the sausage around the egg until it meets at the top. Flour your hands if it makes it easier. Roll in your breadcrumbs and set aside to rest.

Now we're ready to fry and bake. Preheat your oven to 200C. Heat a couple of inches depth of oil in a fry pan. To test if its ready, drop a few of the breadrumbs into the oil. If they sizzle instantly, you're good to go. Carefully place your eggs into the oil and fry for a few minutes until the bottom half starts to colour. Carefully turn them over and fry the other side. Remove and drain on kitchen paper then place on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on the colour. Allow to cool slightly and then serve. Great as part of a picnic, a cheeseboard or just a snack on the go.

This is not the first time I've created something that I never tasted pre-Vegan. Sometimes it makes the task harder - but then on the flip side, there's nothing to compare it to. I know that a Panna Cotta shouldn't be too firm and should have a silky feel in the mouth. Replacing coconut cream for the dairy cream was a simple swap, and once I got the ratio of liquid to gelatine substitute right - the rest was easy. I infused this with orange peel, but leave that out if you want a more authentic taste. This recipe makes two Panna Cotta, but the amounts are easily doubled or tripled.

Ingredients

1 400ml can coconut cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pieces orange peel (use a veg peeler)
1 tsp gelatine substitute (I used Jel-It-In)

You will also need a fine sieve and a jug at the ready.

Pour coconut cream into a small pan and add in the icing sugar, vanilla extract and orange peel. Whisk over a low heat until it begins to steam. We're not looking for any simmering or boiling here - we're just heating up the cream. Take off the heat and allow to sit for a couple of minutes with the orange peel still in there. 

Remove the peel and set back onto a low heat. Add in your Jel-It-In and whisk like crazy until its all incorporated and the mixture is steaming again. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. Pour this through a fine sieve into a jug or similar. Pour evenly into your two ramekins or chosen moulds and pop into the fridge for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours. To unmould them, either gently pull the Panna Cotta away from the edges of the mould with your fingertips to break the vacuum and then upturn onto a serving plate or sit in a hot water bath for 30 seconds or so and then turn out. 

I've made this a couple of times now and below are pics to give you ideas of serving accompaniments. The first has a saffron orange syrup with pistachios and the second has a chocolate orange sauce and berries.