Aubergine-zucchini-lasagne

hm...


There was the request for more hearty meals - here one of my favorite ones: lasagne.

The problem we have with hearty meals is that the both of us are usually such ravenously hungry that we devour everything before even thinking of taking a picture. And recipes without pictures are quite boring, I think.
The nice little treats are easier to cope with as I normally have some time while the frosting or couverture tightens. But I will try to post more good and solid meals in future.

Usually each of us eats up 3 dishes, so that the family-sized lasagne (6 dishes) fits perfectly our needs. The list of ingredients is not that long and fulfilled with some Mediterranean vegetables as well as a few sheets of lasagne.

For 6 dishes:

1 onion
1 can minced tomatoes
1 pack vegan Bolognese
1/2 red bell pepper
1 aubergine
1 zucchini
1 pack vegan cream e.g. "Oatcuisine" (8 fl. oz. / 250ml)
1 tablespoon margarine
2 tablespoons flour
salt, pepper, nutmeg, oregano
1/2 pack lasagne sheets
1/2 cup vegan cheese (50g)

For the tomato-sauce: chop the onion and stew it in some olive oil. Add the Bolognese, thereafter the canned tomatoes. Season to taste and time to add the chopped bell pepper. Found half of the sauce into a casserole and cover it with sheets of lasagne. Slice the zucchini and aubergine and roast them gently in some oil. They dont have to be done, just a bit browned. Flavor them afterwards with salt, pepper and oregano and layer them with some sheets of lasagne. Then disperse the remaining tomato-sauce on top and cover everything with a final pasta layer.

Heat the margarine and stir in the flour. Add bit by bit the cream.
Season the bechamel with nutmeg, salt and white pepper and give it across the lasagne. At last grate the cheese and scatter it on top.
Bake it at 360°F for about 45 minutes. Enjoy your meal!

Blueberry-cupcake with orange-choco-topping

What a baking-day today was. All of my colleaues have birthday these days, my chance to give away some nice little fairy cakes.
Enjoy them!

For about 12 cupcakes:

2 1/2 cup flour (250g)
3/4 cup sugar (150g)
1/2 sachet baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup margarine (120g)
3-4 tablespoons apple puree (50g)
2 tablespoon soyayoghurt
3,5 fl. oz. soja-drink (125ml)
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
paring of half a lemon

1 1/3 cup blueberries (150g)

Mix the dry ingredients, then stir in margarine, milk and apple puree. As soon as the dough is homogenous, fold in the blueberries.
Divide on 12 cupcake-pans and bake them for about 25 min. at 325°F.

For the mousse:
5 fl. oz. Soyatoo whipping cream (150g)
1-2 tablespoon sugar
paring of an orange
1 tablespoon "whip-it" (whipping cream stabilizer)
1 pinch of salt
1 cup dark chocolate (100g)

Whip the cream with sugar, salt, the paring of orange and "whip-it". Melt the chocolate and mix it in. Let the cupcakes cool down for a while, before decorating it with the cream.

Motley pasta salad

We don't like warm dishes if sun is burning like today. Hence we had a cooling pasta salad, which offers beside the taste experience also something for the eyes.

For 4 dishes (which the two of us devour easily):

1/2 - 1 pound pasta at one's own option (300g)

1/2 zucchini
4 carotts
1 red bell pepper
1/2 can corn
4-5 pickles
1 small onion

2 tablespoons soyayoghurt or -curd
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
salt, pepper, paprika
1 pinch sugar
savory, parsley, basil

Refine the pasta in strong salt-water. Cut zucchini and carrots and let them simmer in light salt-water for about 5 minutes. Cover and steep it.
Dice the bell pepper, onion and prickle. Chop and add the herbs.

For the mayonnaise: agitate the curd with oil until its creamy. Season everything and add the bell pepper.
Drain the corn.
Give everything in a huuuuuge bowl and mix it shortly.

Superquick strawberry ice cream

As we are melting down at these summerly temperatures, we reactivated our ice cream maker. Today we had lovely strawberry ice cream.

For about 8 scoops:

1/2 pound soyayoghurt (500g)
4-5 tablespoons first-class strawberry jam

Stir the jam into the yoghurt and put it in the ice cream machine or freezer.
Serve it with cream and fresh strawberries. Yummy!

Spicy tomato-tofu spread

As spread for a yummy multi-grained roll, dip for sliced vegetables or sauce for a summerlight wrap...

1/2 cup tofu (100g)
1/2 cup flaked almonds (50g)
1 teaspoon pine nuts
10 dried tomatoes in oil
4 talespoons soya-yoghurt
1 shot of lemon juice
3 teaspoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon yeast flakes
basil, thyme, oregano
salt, pepper, paprika

First of all mash the tofu with a fork. Then roast and season almonds and pine nuts in a pan. Add 5 dried tomatoes and 2 teaspoons yoghurt and give everything (without tofu)into the mixer. Dice the remaining tomatoes and give them with the tomato-nut-bulk, the lemon juice, tomatoe puree and the remaining 2 tablespoons yoghurt as well as the yeast flakes to the mashed tofu.
Season everything very well and fold in the minced herbs. YumYum.

Pasta with vegan meatballs

My edition of "cooking with children", as cooking with my boyfriend is always an adventure. I assign him the most simple instructions and he is anyhow able to misunderstand them. The kitchen looks quite often like a battlefield aftterwards. But why complain, at least he is usually cleaning it all up. It's probably one reason why our exciting relationship never becomes boring.


Here my recipe for hungry childs (or childish men), who like to play around with their meatballs until they foul the wall.


For 4 dishes:

1 cup tofu (200g)
1/3 cup dried white bread (50g)
2 tablespoons starch
3-4 shots soya milk
1 onion, minced
3-4 tablespoons tomato puree
1/2 bunch parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg
oregano, thyme
plenty of olive oil

1/2 pound pasta (500g)

Sauce:
2 cloves garlic
1/2 pound peeled and minced tomatoes (500g)
1 tablespoon starch
1 shot red wine (optional)
salt, pepper, thyme, oregano
chilli
basil

For the vegan meatballs use a fork to mash the tofu, then roast it gently with olive oil. Then add minced onions and tomatoe puree and spice everything. Crush the white bread and add starch. Mix the tofu with the white bread and add milk until the bulk has a nice moldable consistency. Work parsley and lemon juice into it and season everything (very!) spicy.
Form little balls out of the tofu-bulk and roast them gently at moderate heat with plenty of oil.

While the meatballs frizzle, refine pasta in salted water and prepare the tomato-sauce.
Mince 2 cloves of garlic as fine as possible and stew it in olive oil. When they are about to become brown, add tomaoes.
Thicken the sauce with a little bit of starch, so that it sticks better to the pasta later and isn't that diluted. If you like you could lace the sauce with red wine.

Drain the pasta, drape meatballs and tomato-sauce nicely on top and there it is - a delicious meal of childhood days. Enjoy your meal!