Italian & Vegan

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Recipes of the best food in the world, vegan. Click on a picture for the recipe.
6 months ago  / 3 notes / reblog
more recipes at www.italianandvegan.com! If you like mushrooms, this is the recipe for you. And if you like risotto too, well, then I think this might just become your favorite food. I love risotto in general, but I’ve found that mushroom risotto is one of the more bland versions of a great food. But after buying a bunch of exotic mushrooms, I thought I might as well see what happened if I made them into a risotto, and the results were great. Turns out, the only reason I thought mushroom risotto was boring was that I was using boring mushrooms! Ingredients (serves 2) 400g risotto rice 120g exotic mushrooms, I used: 40g pink oyster 40g yellow oyster 40g shimeji 120g regular mushrooms (I used forestier mushrooms) 1 small red onion ½ white onion 1 litre (33 fl oz) vegetable stock (boiling) splash of white wine 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried thyme 3 tbsp nutritional yeast salt ground black pepper olive oil Preparation (45 minutes) Drizzle some olive oil on a pan and set on medium heat. Slice the white onion into thin slices and throw in the pan. Chop up the forestiere mushrooms and add them to the pan. Mix around for about 3 minutes, then add half of each of the exotic mushrooms you chose, chopped into large pieces. Stir for 3 minutes, then add the basil, thyme, some salt and pepper, and turn down the heat and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, drizzle some olive oil into a pot and turn the heat to maximum. Chop the red onion into small pieces and throw in the pot. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the pieces start turning brown, then add the rice and stir for about 3 minutes. Add the splash of white wine and stir vigorously until all the wine has evaporated. Add the mushrooms, stir everything well, and add about 200ml of the vegetable stock, as well as about 1 tbsp of salt. Stir occasionally until all of the water has evaporated, then add another 200ml. Repeat until you’ve added 600mls, then, once that has evaporated, taste the risotto to see if it’s cooked yet. If it isn’t, add another 100ml and repeat until it is cooked. In the meantime, throw the rest of the exotic mushrooms into a pan on maximum heat, and cook for about 4 minutes, just to give them a quick grill. Make sure you don’t cook them too much, you really want them to be as little cooked as possible. Once they’re done, set them aside. When the rice is finished (should be at about 800ml or 20 minutes), take off the heat, add the nutritional yeast, and stir it in. Serve, and add the rest of the mushrooms on the plate (as shown in the picture). Buon appetito!
6 months ago  / 8 notes  / reblog
 Great site ! Everything looks delish ! 
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       Anonymous

hope everything tastes delish as well! :)



6 months ago
 Some awesome looking food on here! 
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       whoarethebrainpolice

thanks!



6 months ago
Tofu and Olive Linguine more recipes at italianandvegan.com! Ok so this one is quite interesting. I started off just making a puttanesca, but when I realized that I had no capers and that I had some leftover tofu I thought, whatever, let’s just see what happens. The best word to describe the result is a very simple ‘interesting’. It tastes really good, although clearly not one of the best pastas I’ve made. But all of the different flavors make the eating experience quite exciting. With each bite, you start off tasting the sweetness of the onions; but as you chew, the predominant flavor changes to the spiciness of the pepper. And finally, almost as an aftertaste, the pleasant taste of olives to finish it off. Quite a few contrasting tastes, but they all work together very well, and all the while there’s that foamy tofu texture to make it that much better. By the way, I’ve decided to try and make things more regular, since that’s what everyone seems to say is the correct thing to do. So from now on, I’ll be posting once a week, on Wednesday mornings. Let me know what you think about that, especially if you think it’s a bad idea. Alright, time to eat! Ingredients (serves 2) 400g linguine (or any other kind of pasta you like, although linguine do work really well in this case) 1 large red onion 3 cloves of garlic 4 hot chili peppers (I know, it’s a lot, but it’s supposed to be spicy! It does depend on what chilis you’re using though, so use however many you think are necessary to make it quite spicy. If you’re just using regular chilis from your local supermarket, 3 or 4 should be about right) 120g tofu, pressed for about an hour 20 black olives 2 tsp dried basil 2 tbsp nutritional yeast ground black pepper salt olive oil Preparation (30 minutes) Slice the onion into thin slices, and peel the cloves of garlic and chop into halves. Throw into a pan on maximum heat with some olive oil, after about 3 minutes, add the chili peppers (chopped into small pieces). After 2 minutes, add the tofu, chopped into small squares, and, using a wooden spoon, stir everything around for a while. As you stir, use your spoon to crumble the pieces of tofu, by the end, it should look kind of like ricotta. Add the olives, chopped into random sized pieces (so leave some whole, some in fourths, some in halves, etc.), add a generous amount of olive oil, and turn the heat down. Now fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and throw in some salt. Add the pasta as well, and stir every two minutes or so, then, about 3 minutes before what the pack says is full cooking time, taste the pasta. Keep tasting every minute, and about 1 minute before what the pack says, the pasta should be ready (taste it to make sure). Drain it, toss it back in the pot, and add the tofu and onions and all that. Mix everything well, then add the nutritional yeast and stir it in. Serve (and enjoy) right away!
6 months ago  / 7 notes  / reblog
Croquettes with Mushroom Sauce more recipes at www.italianandvegan.com! I’m not going to lie, I feel kind of like a fraud for posting this because it’s almost the same as a recipe I got from a cookbook my mom just gave me. And they’re not really completely Italian. But they tasted so good that I just had to share this with everyone. And I’ll do some free advertising for the book, and tell you that this is not my recipe - someone else’s. The cookbook is called Vegan with a Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and I highly recommend it. Anyway, I made these for myself today and I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The croquettes are incredible, but the sauce - oh, the sauce! I don’t think anything I could ever write would do these justice, so please, just try them!  For the croquettes: Ingredients (makes 16 croquettes) 500g can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp soy sauce 175g cooked quinoa 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp paprika For the bread crumb coating: 25g bread crumbs 1 teaspoon salt a few dashes black pepper Preparation (2 hours) Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Cook the black eyed peas in some water for about 10 minutes, then drain and rinse them. Put them in a bowl and mash them with a potato masher until completely mashed. Add the olive oil and soy sauce and stir. Next add the quinoa and spices (make sure you cook the quinoa and let it cool for a while beforehand) and stir everything again. In a small bowl mix together all of the ingredients for the breadcrumbs and set aside. Grease a baking tray with some olive oil. Now, make the mixture of peas and quinoa into little cylinders by rolling them with your hands, but be careful to squeeze them with your fingers into shape to make sure they’re nice and compact. Cover them in the breadcrumbs and place on the baking tray. Drizzle with some olive oil and stick them in the oven for 40 minutes. The recipe says to turn them over after 20 minutes, but I didn’t and they turned out great - it really depends on your oven and baking tray. For the mushroom sauce: Ingredients 700ml vegetable stock 1 tbsp olive oil 1 small onion 2 cloves of garlic 120g mushrooms (I used forestier mushrooms, but any standard-type mushroom will do) 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp salt black pepper 3 tbsp soy sauce 5 tbsp nutritional yeast 4 tbsp rice milk Preparation While the croquettes are in the oven, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil for a couple of minutes. Then add the mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Leave boiling for about 5 minutes, then turn it down and let it simmer for another 15 minutes, or until most of the water has evaporated and it’s looking more like a sauce and less like a soup. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool until the croquettes are ready. When the croquettes are ready (after about 40 minutes in the oven), take them out and put them on a plate. Serve right away accompanied by the mushroom sauce.
6 months ago  / 9 notes  / reblog
 I've considered becoming a vegan for some time now, but I was afraid that there wouldn't be anything eatable left. I thought all tasty food contained animal products. your blog proved me wrong, and from now on, I am 100 percent vegan. thank you! 
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       Anonymous

Wow, this is great to hear! I’m really glad if I helped make the change, that’s part of the reason I made this blog in the first place. Now cook some of this food for your friends, and prove to them that there’s plenty of tasty vegan food!! :)



6 months ago  / 4 notes
 Like my facebook page! (please) :) 
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6 months ago  / reblog
Tortiglioni al Ragú more recipes at italianandvegan.com! Ragú is probably one of the most world-famous recipes for pasta, you might know it as Bolognese sauce. Although there are some technical differences between the two, they are minimal – and for someone just looking to cook themselves a quick meal on a lazy Sunday, there is no difference. This is a pretty simple, standard pasta that (as usual) tastes great, but don’t expect anything interesting. While it’s very easy to make, I do have to point out one thing – please, please, please once the pasta has been drained and is back in the pot, mix the sauce together with it. For some reason people seem to serve the pasta with a glob of sauce on top, which not only looks horrible to anybody who knows pasta, but also makes it incredibly impractical to eat. After all – you’re going to have to mix everything together anyway, so why not just make your life easier and mix it in a pot? Oh and one last thing, the classic pasta to make with ragú is spaghetti. Unfortunately I’d run out of spaghetti when I made this, so I made it with tortiglioni. Either way it’s a pretty neutral sauce which would work with pretty much whatever pasta you have in the house. Alright, enough of this – time to cook! Ingredients (serves 2) 400g tortiglioni (or any other pasta) 1 large red onion 1 hot chili pepper 100g vegan mince 500g pelati (peeled plum tomatoes) 2 cloves garlic olive oil salt black pepper Preparation (40 minutes) Slice the onion and throw into a pan with some olive oil, on medium heat. Peel the garlic, cut each clove in two or three pieces (depending on how big they are), and add to the pan. Chop the chili into small pieces and add that to the pan as well. When the onions start turning brown, and all of the onions are at least golden, add the mince. Stir everything together well, then add some salt and some black pepper. Keep cooking until the mince starts getting a little crunchy, then add the pelati. Stir everything together well, and after about 10 minutes you should see the tomatoes starting to disintegrate. Mush them into a sauce and mix, at this point there shouldn’t be any pieces of tomato in in the sauce. Lower the heat, to minimum, and leave to simmer while making the pasta. At this point fill a large pot up with water, bring it to a boil, then throw in a handful of salt and the pasta. Keep stirring every 2 minutes or so, and tasting it after 7. About 1 minute before what it says on the pack the pasta should be ready, but taste it just in case. Once it’s cooked, drain the water and throw the pasta back in the pot. Add the sauce, stir well, and serve, and then let me know if you enjoyed it!
6 months ago  / 5 notes  / reblog
Sweet Potato Risotto more recipes at italianandvegan.com! Sweet potatoes don’t actually exist in Italy, so this isn’t really a traditional Italian recipe. However, I love sweet potatoes and at the end of the day it’s still a risotto made in the standard Italian way – and it tastes great. As usual with any risotto it’s the perfect thing to make too much of because it tastes great for days afterwards, and I always like making myself a couple of extra meals for the week so that if I’m feeling lazy I can still eat something tasty. Ingredients (serves 2) 400g risotto rice 6 smallish sweet potatoes 1 red onion 2 cloves garlic 2 tsp vegetable stock powder (or whatever equivalent) splash of white wine fresh rosemary salt 3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional) Preparation (40 minutes) Slice half the onion into long, thin slices and throw in a pan on minimum heat with some olive oil and the garlic, chopped in large pieces. Chop up the potatoes into small (1-2cm) cubes, and add to the pan. Turn the heat up to medium high, add some fresh rosemary and salt, and continuously stir to make sure nothing gets burned. After about 15-20 minutes, the potatoes should be ready, although it also depends on how crispy you like them. In the meantime, fill a kettle with water and boil the water. When the potatoes are ready, put a large pot on high heat, add some olive oil and the rest of the onion, and stir until the onions are turning brown. Then add the rice, and stir everything constantly for 2 minutes. Now turn the heat up as far as it will go and add a splash of white wine. Let it all evaporate while stirring, then add the potatoes. Stir everything together, then add about 200ml of boiling water from the kettle. Add a nice amount of salt as well as the stock powder, and keep stirring. When the water has evaporated almost completely, add some more water and keep stirring. Continue this process until the rice is cooked (should take 10-20 minutes) – check by tasting the rice every once in a while after about 10 minutes. Once it’s ready, take it off the heat and add the nutritional yeast, stir one last time and serve steaming hot!
6 months ago  / 19 notes  / reblog
 great site, awesome recipes 
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       sloppyfoodslop

thanks! :)



6 months ago
Spicy Mushroom and Sausage Pasta more recipes at italianandvegan.com! I know, I know, I make way too much stuff with mushroom and sausages. But since it’s so easy, cheap, and tasty, after I made this for myself I thought I might as well take a picture and post it. This is a very tasty pasta – not very special, and it certainly won’t impress anyone, but perfect for yourself on a lazy sunday afternoon.  Ingredients (serves 2) 400g pasta 4 vegetarian sausages 300g chestnut mushrooms (I’ve been using chestnut mushrooms a lot recently, but you can use pretty much any mushrooms you like, although porcini would probably be too strong) 1-3 spicy peppers (depending on how strong they are and how spicy you want it) 1 red onion 500g passata 2 tbsp margarine 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional) salt olive oil Preparation (30 minutes) Heat a pan with some olive oil, then slice the onions, chop up the spicy pepper, and add to the pan on high heat. When the onion is just starting to turn a little brown, add the sausages, and cook them for a while, breaking them into smaller pieces as you stir. Chop all the mushrooms and add them, and the margarine, to the pan once the sausages are a little crispy, and keep stirring around. Add the passata, add some salt and nutritional yeast, and stir so everything is evenly spread, all the while with the heat on maximum. While the sauce is cooking, fill a large pot with water and put it on maximum heat. Once it’s boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and stir every 2 minutes at least. Once the pasta is done (start tasting the pasta every minute after about 7 minutes to make sure it doesn’t overcook) drain it, throw it back in the pot, and add the sauce. Mix everything around and serve!
6 months ago  / 2 notes  / reblog
 omfg i wanna lick the screen god bless you for making this blog 
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       Anonymous

hahaha wow this comment just made my day, although please try to refrain from licking your screen, i’m not sure how much your computer would enjoy that



6 months ago
Garlic Bread more recipes at italianandvegan.com! First of all, sorry that once again I haven’t been posting very often. I have made myself a schedule though so from now on I’ll post at least one new recipe per week. Anyway, garlic bread! It’s extremely popular all over the place, and making it properly is extremely simple. This whole thing shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes, not counting the time the bread’s in the oven. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think! Ingredients (makes 6 pieces) ½ baguette 3 cloves of garlic (the bigger they are, the easier it’ll be) olive oil salt Preparation (10 minutes + 10 minutes cooking time) Slice the baguette diagonally so as to make the slices as big as possible. Put them all on a baking tray and toast in an oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown (traditionally you would grill them, but it takes more time and the result isn’t too different – plus, I don’t have a grill!). While they’re in the oven peel the cloves of garlic, but don’t cut them into smaller pieces. Once the slices of bread are ready, put them on a plate. Take the garlic and rub it all around one side of the bread, you should see the garlic melt and the bread should seem oily. Drizzle with olive oil and then add a sprinkling of salt. Don’t let these cool, enjoy them right away!
6 months ago  / 38 notes  / reblog
 looooooove this blog. Thanks so much for the recipes, keep updating! Have a nice day :) 
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       Anonymous

thanks a lot! sorry that I haven’t been updating but that’s going to change starting today, i promise!



6 months ago  / 2 notes