Three cheers for vegan snacks!
Photo: iStockphoto
I have tried and tried to learn about football. Many people have taken the time to sit patiently by my side while a game is on and gently whisper explanations like, "OK, see, there are a series of things called downs ..." Right away, my mind trails off. Despite my total lack of comprehension of anything that happens on the field, I enjoy Super Bowl parties: the spectacle, the ads -- and the snacks.
This year I decided to challenge myself to make a Super Bowl-worthy vegan dish. I wanted to make something that was hearty and savory, and I wanted it to be good enough that my omnivorous friends would enjoy it too. Should I make chili? No. Too obvious! I decided to take on a greater challenge: a heavy, gooey baked pasta dish.
Can You Say Soysage?
Normally for an occasion like a Super Bowl party I prepare a baked pasta dish I call Testosteroni. I use penne or ziti, but gemelli, rigatoni, fusilli, rotini, and radiatori work too. Feta cheese, green olives, capers, and a sauce made of puréed roasted red pepper and crushed tomatoes spiked with red pepper flakes complete the dish -- it's sort of an Arrabiata-meets-Putanesca kind of deal ... a salty, saucy mix. However, I couldn't find any vegan cheese that even vaguely resembled feta, so instead I decided to go with a baked vegan ravioli dish with "sausage" in marinara sauce.
The first time I made it, I served it to my veggie dining co-op. I used Tofurky Italian Sausage and Soy Boy Rosa Ravioli (tomato pasta filled with a roasted sweet red pepper and organic tofu filling).
I chickened out when it came to adding vegan cheese and used real mozzarella. The result was delicious. The flavor of the Tofurky Italian Sausage was really good and the texture wasn't bad, even though it wasn't like real sausage. The ravioli were fantastic. They had a nice flavor and I liked the fact that they were lighter than cheese ravioli. I'm ready to use vegan ravioli from now on simply because I prefer it. However, as good as the dish was, it wasn't vegan since I had used real cheese.
The next time I made it, I decided to bite the bullet and make it with completely vegan ingredients. I picked the toughest room I could to taste-test it: the meat-eatin'-est house around. (How much do the members of this household love meat? One of their kid's first phrases was "More meat!" and when we recently talked about what would make a good filling for a piñata, she suggested -- predictably and with complete sincerity -- "Meat!")
I made the same dish for them, only this time I used Field Roast Italian Sausage instead of the Tofurky. The flavor of the sausages was very good (although I thought the Tofurky ones tasted more like real Italian sausages) and their texture was more like real meat.
Topping It All Off
Instead of using cheese to top the dish, I decided to try using seasoned breadcrumbs to make a sort of savory streusel. I mixed breadcrumbs with smoked paprika, salt, and olive oil. The flavor was good but the texture was off-putting, in part because I used too many breadcrumbs and there was simply too much topping. One of my friends asked if the dish really needed any topping, since the rest was so good on its own. I guess it doesn't, but it seemed undressed (topless, as it were) without one.
That night I woke up and sat bolt upright in my bed. I probably should have said, "Eureka!" but instead I cried "Garlic bread!" In my sleep, I had hit upon the idea of cutting thin slices of a baguette, topping them with a fresh garlic and margarine mixture, and adding them to the top of the dish a few minutes before serving -- just long enough for them to toast a bit. Mixing a little flat Italian parsley into the margarine-garlic mix couldn't hurt either. (Since the partially hydrogenated oil present in some margarines turns out to be quite unhealthful, consider using a brand that doesn't contain it, like Smart Balance.)
Of course, you can always use soy cheese. Some of it tastes good and melts well. Go in with a friend on buying a few different brands and have a "tasting" -- that's the best way to find one that you like. Test the different cheeses for their melt-ability by grating them and then toasting them on bread in the oven.
That said, here is the recipe for a hearty vegan ravioli bake. Top it (or not!) in whatever way you choose.
Vegan Baked Ravioli and "Sausage"
Serves 6-8
"Sausage" and Ravioli
10-ounce package of Rosa Ravioli, or similar amount of other ravioli of your choice
1 package (4 links) of vegan "sausage"
1-2 pinches of red pepper flakes (optional)
Topping
1 1/2 to 2 cups soy cheese, grated
or
Several 1/2- to 3/4-inch slices of baguette topped with a garlic-margarine mix (3-4 tablespoons of margarine and one clove of fresh garlic, crushed and chopped fine)
Salt
A few sprigs of parsley (optional), stemmed (which, of course, really means de-stemmed!) and cut into thin strips
Place the oven rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and put a large pot of water on to boil.
Photo: iStockphoto
When the water comes to a boil, add the ravioli and cook them until they are cooked through. They don't need to be perfectly al dente because they are about to be baked, but they should be edible. When the ravioli are done, drain them.
Cut the sausage links into bite-size pieces.
Pour one jar of sauce into a 10" x 15" baking dish. Add the drained ravioli and pieces of sausage in such a way that they are fairly evenly distributed throughout the pan. Pour the second jar of sauce over everything so that it's covered. (If you don't need to use the whole jar and everything's covered, that's fine. Save the rest for another purpose). Add the cheese if you want to use cheese.
Cook the dish for about 30 minutes. Check it after 20 minutes. Take it out if the cheese begins to get too tough. If you are planning to top the dish with garlic bread instead, cut the baguette into slices and make a spread using 3-4 tablespoons of margarine and one clove of minced or pressed garlic. Sprinkle a pinch of salt into the mixture. Spread the slices with the garlic-margarine mix. Put these aside until the last 3 minutes of baking time.
The margarine should melt and the bread should begin to get a little bit brittle but not too brown during that time. Keep an eye on it, though, in case you have a hot oven or the pan is close to the heating element.
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Comments
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mary martin Posted 5:32 am
31 Jan 2008
You'll never know the difference. I actually don't like it because it reminds me so much of cheese made from animals. But all of my omni friends swear by it and don't even use goat cheeses anymore!
Now, if we could only get a good mozzarella alternative, we'd probably have a lot more vegans.
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Kristin17 Posted 6:28 am
31 Jan 2008
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inkedbuddha Posted 7:58 am
31 Jan 2008
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Ethicurean Posted 9:39 am
31 Jan 2008
Yucko.
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Roz Cummins Posted 1:21 pm
31 Jan 2008
As far as margarine goes, I personally prefer butter made from organic milk. The corn-based margarine that I was raised on (which I always told my parents "doesn't taste like it's a food") was awful and bad for you as well. Some of the new soy margarine products are better.
BTW, the person who put in the links in the article meant to write Earth Balance, not Smart Balance. (The link does go to Earth Balance.) I will ask the Grist staff to correct that.
So, to address your concern, I don't normally use these ingredients in my cooking, but I thought it would be good to go outside of my comfort zone a bit and explore some vegan products. Interestingly, none of the vegans I know have told me that they find this recipe "insulting." They were glad that I published a recipe they want to try. The people who ate the dish all enjoyed it... even the dedicated carnivores! I don't think that they'll be filling a piñata with soy-based sausages any time soon, but you never know.
That said, I think there's nothing wrong with using a jar of organic sauce if one is in a hurry, and I use canned beans when I don't have the time to soak them overnight. (This is one of the major ways I plan to make use of a time-travel machine when they invent one: to be able to go back to the previous day and start soaking beans...) I have made ravioli from scratch on occasion, but it's not something that I have the chance to do as often as I would like. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to have more free time than I do. Are there some sauce recipes you'd like to share? Have you put up jars of sauce when you've had a good harvest of tomatoes? Please share your experiences with us.
Also, this recipe is for just one course of a meal, not the entire meal, so there is certainly room for more vegetables. Serve your favorite vegetables as a side dish. I always like to have a salad as well. Many readers tell me that they really like the made-from-scratch Maple-Basil salad dressing in the article I wrote called "Looking for a Miracle." One reader told me that she's never bought another bottle of salad dressing since then! I hope that you will enjoy it too. Bon appetit!
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animalfriendly Posted 2:28 pm
31 Jan 2008
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John former Marine Posted 4:37 am
02 Feb 2008
Plus...watching football is a total waste of time. I even thought that when I worked security at the Superdome. Had I not needed the money, I would never have wasted my time watching those nimrods ram into each other. Honestly, kids kicking a ball around in the streets of Rio is eco-friendly. There is absolutely no way to twist something like American-style mega sports worship and consumption into anything resembling eco-friendliness. Plus...I'm pissed that my tax dollars build those stupid coliseums.
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TubbyC Posted 9:52 pm
05 Feb 2008
But my anticipation of a vegan snack that I could try dissolved into disappointment. I am not a good cook, but even I can figure out how to boil pasta and tip a jar of sauce on it for myself. This is not cooking it is 'warming up' and lazy to boot.
Please, a vegan recipe that uses ingredients and involves a bit of cooking would be very much appreciated.
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Roz Cummins Posted 12:55 pm
06 Feb 2008
1.) Chocolate Cherry Cake
2.) Peanut Sauce
3.) Brokeass 3 Bean Salad
4.) Sweet & Sour Soup
5.) Sweet Potato Soup (if you make it with vegetable broth)
6.) Tomato-Orange Soup with Basil and Cinnamon (if you don't add a dollop of yogurt or sour cream)
7.) Panzanella with lemon-chive vinaigrette
8.) Night of 1,000 Nightshades (a stew)
9.) Kale with Balsamic Vinegar, Garlic, and Raisins
10.) Thai Flavors Salad
11.) Maple-Basil Dressing
12.) Red Pepper Miso Soup
13.) Chickpea Curry with Tomato and Mango
14.) Zucchini Salad with Raisins and Honey-Curry Dressing
also, Marge Piercy's book includes a recipe that we reprinted for 15.) Sweet Potato Kugel
As you may have read in my response to Ethicurean, and as you can see from my recipes, I usually use unprocessed ingredients, but I wanted to try using some of the products that I normally avoid. I thought that it would be good for me to do something outside my normal comfort zone and to see what many vegans and vegetarians routinely use in their cooking. I probably won't use the "sausage" again (I'd rather just make something with tofu and season it myself) but I liked the tofu ravioli and will use it in the future. I do sometimes use a jar of organic tomato sauce and canned beans in my cooking and I feel okay about that. Like a lot of people, I have an insanely busy schedule and I try to cook the healthiest meals that I can in the time that I have. Also, I often decide what to cook depending on what's in the market that day, which means that it's too late to soak beans. Fortunately, organic canned beans are very affordable and I make use of them a lot.
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