Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking (38 page)
Read Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking Online
Authors: Carla Kelly
7.
Pour the blended mix into the seitan ingredients and mix well. Knead in the bowl for 3 to 4 minutes to activate the gluten.
8.
Place the short side of one of the pieces of foil in front of you. Spread the dough, press, and roll (with a rolling pin as necessary) into a 6 by 12-inch rectangle, filling any gaps in the seitan so no foil shows through.
9.
Spread the stuffing on top of the seitan, leaving a ½-inch border of bare seitan along each edge.
10.
Roll the seitan over the stuffing toward you, using the foil as a guide to help keep everything tight as you would when making sushi.
11.
Place the rolled seitan in the center of the foil. Fold the long sides of the foil up toward the center; they will just meet. Fold the remaining sides up to form a seitan parcel. Roll the seitan parcel in the other 16-inch piece of foil, covering the seal from the first piece and scrunching the ends to seal.
12.
Place in the slow cooker; it may be snug if yours is circular in shape. Add the water.
13.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 4 to 4½ hours, until the seitan is aromatic and firm.
14.
Using tongs, carefully remove from the slow cooker and remove the foil.
15.
For the basting sauce, mix the stock through the liquid smoke in the slow cooker, add the unwrapped roast, and baste with a pastry brush.
16.
Uncover, set heat to HIGH, and cook for 45 minutes, basting frequently.
17.
Remove the roast from the slow cooker and let stand for at least 5 minutes prior to cutting. The longer it stands the firmer and easier to slice it will become.
18.
Cut the finished roast with a serrated knife.
VARIATION:
When you are finished cooking, use the leftover basting liquid to make gravy. Heat the leftover liquid in a saucepan with 2 cloves minced garlic until the garlic sizzles. Add 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and mix well to form a thick roux. Add soymilk or other nondairy milk
1
/
3
cup at a time and whisk well after each addition so the sauce thickens smoothly. Add enough milk to make the gravy to your desired thickness.
Pasta Bakes and Sauces
Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Wine, and Sweet Pepper “Pesto”
Penne with Mushrooms and Pine Nuts
“Not-Meat” Balls and Spaghetti
Penne with Sausage and Tomato Sauce
F
OR THIS CHAPTER
I adapted both oven-cooked pasta bakes and stovetop-cooked pasta sauces for the slow cooker. I recommend using wheat-based pasta for these recipes because some nonwheat pastas (like corn and rice) don’t hold up to the cooking all that well. If you use nonwheat pasta, be aware you’ll need to keep a closer eye on it as it cooks and use trial and error to determine which pasta works best and how much you’ll need to adjust the cooking times.
Also, each baked pasta recipe has a specific pasta shape noted, but there is no reason why you can’t use differently shaped but similarly sized pasta—perhaps what you have in the cupboard.
Pasta cooked in the slow cooker is quite soft, not with a firm al dente bite. If you prefer your pasta al dente, the easiest—though more hands-on—way to achieve it is to put the sauce ingredients in the slow cooker and allow them to cook for 1 hour, then add the pasta and cook for the remaining time. The pasta will retain some bite, and the sauce will thicken and meld as it should.
Sometimes the pasta cooking on the top remains a little crunchier than the rest. If you find this is the case, a quick stir to move that pasta to the bottom about two-thirds of the way through the cooking time will fix the problem and ensure even cooking.
These recipes make a substantial amount to feed the whole family and reheat well in the oven or microwave. The sauces, but not the actual pasta, are also suitable for freezing.
I like the recipes in this chapter best when served with a green salad or salads such as Bean and Olive Salad (
page 227
) and with vegetable dishes like Peppered Kale (
page 225
). Also, these dishes are wonderful with baked dishes, in particular Oregano and Sun-Dried Tomato Rolls (
page 244
).
If I haven’t noted so on the recipe, feel free to top each pasta dish with a little grated vegan cheese and broil to melt. If your slow cooker insert is broiler safe then do this in the slow cooker; otherwise serve the pasta onto broiler-safe individual serving plates and broil one at a time.
Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Wine, and Sweet Pepper “Pesto”
T
HIS DECONSTRUCTED SUN-DRIED
tomato and pepper pesto is served hot, tossed through pasta. It’s a rich, nutty dish lovely for a summer meal with a green salad and some fresh bread such as Oregano and Sun-Dried Tomato Rolls (
page 244
). The red wine provides a depth of background flavor and quite a lift, but if you don’t do wine, use more vegetable stock. To make ahead, roast and chop the peppers, reconstitute and chop the tomatoes, and keep in the fridge.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
½ cup dried sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
1 cup boiling water
½ cup skinned raw almonds
½ cup walnut pieces
¾ cup fresh basil, packed
2 cups uncooked large (about 1-inch long) shell-shape pasta
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium roasted red peppers (
page 20
), finely chopped
2 medium roasted yellow peppers (
page 20
), finely chopped
½ cup red wine or vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)
1 cup vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade
¼ cup shredded fresh basil
Salt and black pepper
Dry Chees-y Mix (
page 51
), optional
Toasted walnut and almond pieces, optional
1.
Place the tomatoes in a small bowl, pour the water over them, cover, and let stand for about 15 minutes, until soft. Drain, transfer the liquid to the slow cooker, finely chop the tomatoes, and add to the slow cooker.
2.
Pulse the nuts through the basil in a food processor until quite a smooth paste is formed. Add to the slow cooker with the pasta through the stock; mix to combine.
3.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 3 hours, or until the pasta is tender.
4.
Stir through the shredded basil, taste, and season with the salt and pepper as required.
5.
Sprinkle with a little Dry Chees-y Mix and toasted nuts, if desired.
VARIATION:
PASTA WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO, RED WINE, BLACK OLIVES, AND SWEET PEPPER “PESTO”
Roughly chop ½ cup black olives and add to the slow cooker with the pasta.
Fusilli Puttanesca Style
I
NSPIRED BY PASTA
puttanesca, the southern Italian classic, this is savory, salty, a teensy bit spicy, and a really, really good way to eat pasta. If you love olives, expect to love this dish.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
½ medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon chile flakes, or to taste
1½ cups Simple Tomato Sauce (
page 55
), or one 15-ounce can
1½ cups tomato juice
½ cup sliced black olives
¼ cup sliced green olives
2 tablespoons capers
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 cups uncooked fusilli pasta
1 cup vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)
Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce
1.
Combine the onion through the stock in the slow cooker.
2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 3 hours, or until the pasta is tender and the sauce is thickened.
3.
Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.
Tomato Salsa Pasta Bake
T
HIS IS A
little bit of a cheater’s dinner—using store-bought salsa to spice up a tomato-based pasta bake—but the addition gives depth of flavor to a simple dish that’s paired with vegetables often found in commercial tomato salsa. It’s still quite saucy, so it’s more suitable for serving in bowls than on plates.