Mushroom red wine risotto

I prefer red wine risotto to white wine risotto, and I always use the same ratios.

1 cup of Arborio rice
1/2 cup of Wine
6 cups of Stock

To make this mushroom risotto, first prepare the mushrooms in advance. Just sautée them in some olive oil with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Set them aside.

1st step: Sautée 1 small Onion diced, or preferably about 3 shallots also diced if you can get some in 2 Tbsp of Olive oil.

2nd step: Add the rice and keep stirring, allow the rice to open up a bit.

3rd step: Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and follow with the red wine. Allow the rice to absorb the wine, and just then add the mushrooms.

4th step: Start adding the stock one cup at a time while cooking the risotto in medium to low heat. I prefer to use mushroom stock for this recipe when I have it on hand. You can also just use water, but in this case don't forget to add extra salt to taste.

If you take your time and cook your risotto one cup at a time, you can have a great creamy risotto without adding any extra butter or cheese. Just be sure to eat it right away or the creamyness will fade away.

Oven veggie pasta

As it gets colder I start to crave more oven food. I really enjoy eating a steaming hot dish straight from the oven with a lovely salad on the side. Mmmm what if I oven baked fries right after I fried them....

The ratios for this oven dish were:

300g cooked Pasta (3 cups)
250g cooked Brocolli florets (1+1/4 cup)
350g cooked Brussels sprouts, in halves (1+3/4 cup)
750 ml Tomato sauce (3 cups)
120 ml Soy cream (1/2 cup)

Mix everything up to the tomato sauce and spread on a baking dish.
Drizzle with the soy cream on top.
Bake at 180ºC or 350ºF for about 20 minutes.

The ratios were actually based on what veggies I had around to use. You can use peas, green beans, even mushrooms, and you can totally use more broccoli than brussels sprouts.
You can also use less tomato sauce if you prefer a drier dish and are not completely obcessed about tomato sauce.
Also it is super sweet if you have access to some vegan cheese (that melts good) to mix it in as well.

Ciambotta

Ciambotta is an italian Stew. I really enjoy it as a main dish. Just follow the instructions and you should be omomom soon!

2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 medium Onions, diced
2 Celery sticks, diced
2 Carrots, rougly diced
4 Cloves of garlic, finely diced

1. Sautée the onions, garlic and celery in the olive oil.
2. Add the carrots, and cook it in medium heat for 10 minutes.

1 small Eggplant, diced in cubes
0,1L Water

3. Add and cook it for 10 more minutes.

800g tomatoes, concassee
2 red bell peppers, roughly diced

4. Add these ingredients, and cook it for 15 more minutes.

300g Green beans, a bit undercooked, roughly diced
1 Zuchini, a bit undercooked, roughly diced
2 medium Potatoes, a bit undercooked, chopped in chunks

5. Add these ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and leave it there for 15 more minutes.

This Ciambotta is definitely more delicious than it looks like. Give it a try!

Mushroom Curry

Mmmmmm I love curry, especially mushroom curry. Although I enjoy curry with coconut milk, this is my favourite recipe ever. For curry that is. This is enough quantity for 3 to 4 people, though it really depends on how hungry you are, or on how much rice you're planning on stuffing your face with.

First, sauté and set aside:
2 Tbsp Olive oil
300g Parisian mushrooms, I removed the skin and broke it in pieces by hand.
1 tsp Garam masala
pinch of Salt

Then, prepare this curry sauce:

Fry in 3 Tbsp Olive oil:
1 Bay leaf
1 large Onion, diced - about 4 to 5 min.
3 Garlic cloves - allow for more 2 min.
4 Tomatoes, peeled and diced - allow for more 5 min.
1+1/2 tsp Curry powder
- get rid of the bay leaf - kthxbai
1 cup of Tomato pulp - allow for more 5min.

Blend everything! Then add the mushroom mixture with respective olivey garam masala juices. The reason why this curry sauce isn't so spicy meatball is because the mushrooms themselves are quite spicey. Just add more spice to taste if you're not pleased.

My aunt gave me this dish, it's so pretty!

Tofu & Broccoli Pasta

I like to make big portions of this dish, because it heats nicely. Not all food can be made in advance and still taste delicious when you heat it a few days later.

First, marinate for a couple of hours:

500g of Tofu, extract the maximum water possible and shred
3 Tbsp Soy sauce
1+1/2 Tbsp Garlic powder
1+1/2 Tbsp Saffron
1 tsp Salt

Mix everything well and cool it in the fridge.

Prepare your mise-en-place

2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion, medium, diced
1 Bell pepper, diced
Random short pasta you like the best, I used about 400g of dry pasta for the 500g of tofu, but you can vary this wether you are on a low-carb, high-carb or random-carb diet. Cook it, cool it, put some olive oil in it so it doesn't get extra sticky icky before you use it.
750g Broccoli, boiled

Heat up that wok!
1. Sauté the onion in the olive oil.
2. Add the bell pepper, it's going to take a few minutes for it to soften down.
3. Add the marinated tofu, leave it for a few minutes. Check for salt, add a bit more if you need it.
4. Add in the pasta, mix everything well.
5. Add the broccoli, mix it in.
6. Enjoy!

Enchiladas

Enchiladas are really great! This vegan version bakes in the oven without cheese, but if you find any good vegan cheese go ahead! I made these enchiladas with seitan, but once again you can easily substitute the seitan with TVP or Tofu. Heck you can easily just do a veggie filling.

3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 big Onion, diced
2 Cloves of garlic, diced
200g Seitan
1 green or red Bell pepper, roughly diced
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Salt
350g Enchilada sauce

1. Dice the seitan or cut it into slices. Whichever you prefer.
2. Sautée the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add the bell pepper. Cook it in medium heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add the seitan, seasonings and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Allow it to cool, the procede to stuff the tortillas! ay caramba!
5. Roll'em up, and spread sauce all over!
6. Bake at 180ºC for 10min.

Attention all crew on deck, this recipe yields 450g of filling. This is more than enough for 8 super filled tortillas. I prefer the wheat variety, but to each his own. Refer to the picture for filling instructions.