Thifty Thursday ~ Rocket and Roses Mushroom Bolognese with Spaghetti & side veggies

Kitchen Play List: Moulin Rouge ~ Soundtrack Album

It will be no surprise to you loyal readers that I love some good old fashioned comfort food. And, for me, spaghetti has always been and will be forever more, the ultimate comfort dish. Keep your ice cream, chocolate and cookies...give me a steaming hot bowl of spaghetti any day which is why I have many spaghetti recipes at hand. lol. But this one is a new one..created for Thrifty Thursdays. I wanted to provide a healthy but economical dish...that was also filling and comforting. It also needed to have great taste and look good enough to eat! lol. Oh dear..I do get worse. lol. 

Rocket and Roses Mushroom Bolognese with Spaghetti and steamed broccoli & green beans

Now our personal preference is to use Wholewheat spaghetti as I find that white pasta is tasteless and pappy (Yep..technical term..I promise..Ahem!) And if white pasta is your bag..then that's just fine with me..some of my best friends are white pasta people! ;o) I do have tremendous memories of being a small child and sharing a bowl of steaming hot spaghetti with my Mum..you know the kind..super long..and seemed to take forever to twirl around your fork! lol. 

My tastes have changed over the years so I stick with wholewheat when I can or Buckwheat which is also good. But I have provided costings for wholewheat and for regular white spaghetti. And it goes without saying that if you are GF then subbing for your own personal preference will, 1. Alter the costing drastically as GF pasta is shockingly priced over here in the UK 2. Work beautifully with the GF Bolognese sauce I've created. lol.

You can make this even cheaper if you use dried green lentils and cook them up yourself but I wanted ease and so therefore I used a tin of green lentils in water. But even using this ingredient..you'll be surprised at how cheap this meal for four came in at. Costing are listed after the recipe. 

Close up on the sauce..so tasty.

Rocket and Roses Mushroom Bolognese with Spaghetti & Side Vegetables
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen)

1 head of Broccoli, trimmed, cut into sm-med florets
1 bag of green beans, topped and tailed

12 oz spaghetti of choice
(3oz per person)

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, grated
4oog mushrooms, prepped and slice
1 14oz tin green lentils, rinsed and drained
1 14oz tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of low sodium salt - optional

Place the broccoli and green into the basket of a steamer and cook for 10 minutes until tender crisp. Remove the water from pan and leave the veggies to sit in warmth until ready to serve.

Cook your pasta as per the package instructions or your preferred way of cooking your pasta. I put mine into cook when I remove the skillet lid for the final cooking time as the sauce can take a sitting period until the pasta is perfectly al dente.

In a large skillet saute the onion and garlic with small amounts of water until they are softened and almost translucent. Then add the mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano and drained lentils. Season with the salt and black pepper. Stir very well to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 4 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.   

Place the spaghetti into a warmed serving dish and then top with the sauce. Toss together so the sauce coats the pasta. Arrange the broccoli and green beans around the edge of the dish. (If you are lucky enough to get vegan Parmesan than a sprinkle over the top would finish this dish perfectly but it doesn't need it! ~R~) Serve immediately..

Enjoy!
~R~ 

Thrifty Thursday Meal Costs Breakdown

Items

Onion	48p
Garlic	2.5p
Mushrooms	97p
Chopped Tomatoes	33p
Tomato Puree	3.5p
Oregano	1p
Salt	1p
Black Pepper	1p
Green Beans	£1
Broccoli	60p
Sub Total	£3.60
Wholemeal Spaghetti	60p	Total £4.20
		£1.05 per person
White Spaghetti	16p	Total £3.66
		91p per person

As you can see there is quite a difference because of the pasta..and unfortunately using a store bought GF pasta would increase that price greatly. 


But £4.20 to feed four as a main meal is quite reasonable. I was very happy with the costings on this meal as I thought that it may come in at a higher price. Phew! Hope you give it a try..and as always I would be happy to hear from you. 


Save those pennies folks! 
~R~

Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Pasties ~ Wholewheat and Gluten Free Versions

Kitchen Play List: Bonnie Raitt ~ The Best of Album

Rocket & Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Wholewheat & Gluten Free Pasties

The filling for these pasties came from a very simple desire to have a delicately savoury filling. I didn't want a filling that was packed with spices or multiple veggies and beans. I wanted a very simple pasty. For some reason my mind floated off to the horrible potato, cheese and onion pasties from history and I shuddered at how badly cooked the potatoes were and I was instantly filled with challenge. Surely it couldn't be that hard to cook potatoes nicely for a pasty. It seemed a natural progression to expand the filling with leeks..after all it is the classic combination. So out came my skillet and before I knew it I had a bubbling filling cooking away...

I made two batches as normal. One with my WW pastry and one with Jeenas Buckwheat GF Pastry. Both pastry recipes can be found by clicking the link below...

http://rocketandrosesvegankitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/rocket-and-roses-four-root-pasties.html

Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato and Thyme filling..hot and bubbly! lol

Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Filling 
Filling for 16 pasties  (Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen)


1 tsp rapeseed oil
1 med onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 leeks, trimmed washed and thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
16 fol oz thick veggie stock
4 baking potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to season to taste

In a large skillet heat the oil and add the onion, leeks, garlic and bayleaf and saute, stirring often until soft.  Add the potatoes, stock thyme and season. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

The potatoes should be soft but not mushy. Allow to cool for assembly of the pasties. 

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Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Wholewheat Pasty

Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Wholemeal Pasties Makes 8 pasties
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen) 

1 WW pastry mix, for recipe click link above
Leek, Potato & Thyme filling mix, recipe above
soya milk, for gluing

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 400'F/200'C/Gas Mark 6. 

Roll out the pastry until it's 1/4" thick and then cut out 8 x 5" circles and set them to one side. 

Take one circle and put between 1-2 tbsp of the Leek, Potato & Thyme filling on the bottom half of the circle leaving a cm rim around the edge. Using a pastry brush, coat the edge of the circle with soya milk. And stretching the pastry slightly as you lift the top part up and over the filling..measure the two edges together and press down to enclose the filling in the parcel. With the prongs of a fork or pastry press, go around the edges to seal it together properly. Place the pasty onto the baking sheet and brush over with the soya milk and then repeat with the remaining 7 circles. 

Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and leave on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a cooking rack...if eating straight away..serve with a lush salad or steamed green veggies. 

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Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Gluten Free Pasty

Rocket and Roses Leek, Potato & Thyme Gluten Free Pasties Makes 8 pasties
(Pasty recipe an Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan kitchen
and the pastry recipe is from jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com)

1 Buckwheat GF Pastry mix, for recipe click link above
1 Leek, Potato & Thyme filling mix, for recipe click link above
soya milk for gluing

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 400'F/200'C/Gas Mark 6. 

Roll out the pastry until it's 1/4" in thickness and cut out 8 5"x 3" rectangle pieces and gently move them to the prepared trays. Then re-roll the pastry and cut out 8 slightly large rectangles to 'blanket' the filling. This will compensate for the lack of stretch in this pastry. 

Place 2-2.5 tbsp of filling along the centre of each rectangle on the tray..leaving a good cm egde all the way around. Brush the edges with soya milk and then gently maneuver a larger rectangle over the filling and align the edges together, pressing down lightly to seal the parcel. Then using the prongs of a fork, press around the edges of the pasty to encase the filling. Brush over with soya milk and repeat with the remaining 7 pasties. 

Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks. Once cold store in an airtight container until ready to eat. Then reheat in a microwave for 1 min 30. 

(Remember they will be quite hard on the day of making..so a waiting period is highly recommended! ~R~) 

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Enjoy! 
~R~   
 

Rocket and Roses Crown Prince Pumpkin, Mixed Pepper & Black Eyed Pea Vegan Frittata

Kitchen Play List: The Mavericks ~ The Best Of Album 

The Mystery Ingredient Challenge Item this week was a lovely Crown Prince Pumpkin and not only I had never cooked with one before..I had never even heard of this rather beautiful blue/green hued squash. So, when presented with it, I was rather embarrassed to admit.. "..Erm..it's beautiful...it's a squash but what the heck is it?" lol. 

Rocket and Roses Crown Prince Pumpkin, Mixed Pepper and Black Eyed Pea Vegan Frittata

Yes, My Love got me good with this weeks ingredient. lol. But I love a challenge, so I got to work and soon a recipe for a colourful frittata was solidifying in my mind. The recipe is mine but I do confess the Tofu Frittata base recipe is adapted from Terry Romero's Spanish Omelette recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance. Such a great recipe..thank you Terry.

But, if like me, you have never prepped or cooked one of these lovelies..a word of warning...they are a royal (No pun intended but laugh by all means! lol I did!) bitch pain to cut into and peel! I have used muscles this morning that I forgot I even had...and ended up with a rather sharp piece of skin, splinter like, under my thumb nail. So not only is this pumpkin a rather pleasant blue colour..the air in my kitchen was a shade of blue too! lol. Ooops! lol

Crown Prince Pumpkin..taking a bow..lol

Once..you get into it..it is very beautiful...ONCE!! lol Ahem..

I wanted to keep the oils down to the bare minimum so only used 1 tbsp in the tofu mix and a drop in the skillet which I brushed around to line it. And I mean a drop..not even a 1/4 tsp worth. I also steamed the pumpkin slices and the onions, garlic and pepper were cooked in the oiled skillet. I also intended on adding some Liquid Animos to the vegetables and I admit...I forgot...only remembered when I sat down, to try and make sense of my scribblings on pieces of paper, to write this recipe up on here. Next I will try it but this time...it's without the smokiness but I will add it to the recipe below. 

The results were very attractive frittata that was packed with flavour from the veggies, beans and the tofu. It was missing the smokiness that I had in mind when creating the recipe but My Love assures me that without it..it was still delish! lol. Would I change anything next time? I would probably dice the pumpkin..so some mouthfuls weren't just pumpkin as this particular one has a good strong flavour. But that's all. I really enjoyed this frittata and it has inspired me to make many others. And personally I would wait...10 minutes for the standing time as I think I would've preferred it a little hotter. But that is just my personal preference and maybe something you would like too? 

Rocket and Roses Crown Prince Pumpkin, Mixed Pepper and Black Eyed Pea Frittata...a close up of the layers...well..you can just about see them! lol

Rocket and Roses Crown Prince Pumpkin, Mixed Pepper &
Black Eyed Pea Vegan Frittata Serves 4
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen & Tofu base adapted from
Terry Romeros Spanish Omelette recipe)

500g Crown Prince Pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and sliced
1 large red onion, peeled, halved and quartered and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, deseeded and small diced
1 yellow bell pepper, deseeded and small diced
1 140z tin of black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
2 tsp liquid animos

Tofu base:
700g silken tofu, rinsed
pinch of saffron
3 tbsp soya milk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 pinch of low sodium salt
large pinch of pre-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried marjoram or 2 tsp fresh chopped marjoram

Drop of oil to line the skillet

Pre-heat the oven to 375''F/190'C/Gas Mark 5. Place the pumpkin slices into a steamer and cook until they are tender to the touch of a fork/knife. Be sure to take them off and away from the steaming water! Put the saffron strands into a small bowl with the soya milk. Stir and leave to soak.

In a large heavy based oven safe skillet (if you haven't got one cook veggies in a regular pan and then assemble the fritatta in a pie/baking dish to cook ~R~) cook the slices of onion over a low heat so they are an almost soft translucent and then add the sliced garlic and saute, stirring for a couple of minutes. Then add the peppers and stir well to combine and turn the heat up to med-high and add the liquid animos and cook, stirring frequently for five minutes. Then place into a large bowl. Keep the skillet warm over lowest of flames/heat. 

In a food processor blend the tofu until it's almost smooth, add the oil and blend again. Add the salt and pepper...remove the saffron strands from the milk and discard. Pour the milk into the processor and blend until well mixed. Add the marjoram and blend to distribute through. Discard the blade and pour half of the tofu mixture into the onion mix and stir well to combine.

Place a few heaped spoonfuls onto the bottom of the skillet and smooth over. Then cover with pieces of the steamed pumpkin to form a layer. Then repeat with the tofu onion mix and a final layer of the pumpkin. Then pour over the remaining tofu mixture and push down and smooth over the layers. 

Place into the hot oven and cook for 50 minutes. Then remove from the oven and gently with a knife go around the edge of the frittata to loosen the sides. Leave to stand for 20 minutes. 

Place a serving plate upside down over the cooled skillet and carefully turn them over and the frittata should easily transfer to the plate. Then slice and serve at room temperature. 

Enjoy!
~R~

I served mine on a bed of mixed baby lettuce leaves, shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced green pepper and halved baby cherry tomatoes. Dressed with a drizzle of lemon juice which I then tossed in a large bowl and arranged a layer on the individual plates. Worked really well. 

Hope you give this try? Let me know how you get on? 
~R~

Rocket and Roses Roasted Cauliflower, Roasted Garlic & Butter Bean Pate/Spread

Kitchen Play List: Whitesnake ~ Here I Go Again
                                     Chris Cornell ~ Safe and Sound
                                     Pixie Lott ~ Cry Me Out
                                     Nicola Benedetti ~ Rondo Capriccioso
                                     Dinah Washington ~ What a Difference..
                                     Tina Arena ~ Chains
                                     
Some people get lovely bunches of flowers...but I get lovely bags of cauliflowers...8 to be exact! lol. But they were as welcome as any cut flower. So I chopped 6 of them into chunks, spread them out over two large baking sheets, drizzled them with the tiniest amount of rapeseed oil and put them in a hot oven to roast. And when they were done I made three recipes with them. All my own recipes...one soup..one sauce and this pate. I call it pate because it's rich and dense and it would also make a very good sandwich filling and baked potato filling. (Potato filling I can confirm as we had some with a baked potato yesterday! ~R~) 


Sometimes recipes just come to me in a flash and I have to scramble to find paper and a pen and jot it down. This happened with this pate..thankfully I was sat at my desk whilst staring at the bags of cauliflowers. lol. I threw a couple of unpeeled garlic cloves on to one of the roasting trays and I drained off a tin of butter beans. It was that simple for this recipe.

Rocket and Roses Roasted Cauliflower, Roasted Garlic and Butter Bean Pate ~ Tastes good on pumpernickel bread too!

Rocket and Roses Roasted Cauliflower, Roasted Garlic 
& Butterbean Pate 
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen)

1lb roasted cauliflower chunks
1 14oz tin of butter beans, rinsed and drained
2 large garlic cloves, roasted 
salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

In the bowl of a processor place the butterbeans and pulse a few times to break them down a little. Then add the cauliflower and cut open the garlic and squeeze the creamy centres into the mix. Season with a pinch of salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Store in a airtight container in the fridge until needed. 

Enjoy! 
~R~  

A Lovely Birthday Cake Display

We have just arrived home after spending the day celebrating My Love's birthday with our friends. It was a small affair..just the 8 of us met up for brunch at a cafe in the city. The reason for the lunch was for My Love's one and only birthday request...Kippers! I know..I'm right there with you but birthday wishes trump everything. So we all enjoyed our brunch...I was surrounded by meat and fish eaters...just my pal D and I were the only vegans and to be honest the cafe wasn't that vegan friendly..I ended up eating a Houmous, Carrot and Red Pepper Ciabata Sandwich with a salad and dressing for breakfast. Not awful by any stretch of the imagination but it was a strange breakfast lol. I did fill out the customer card and requested a vegan dish to be added to the brunch menu. But a lovely time was had by all and we then took a quick tour of the adjoining shop to the cafe. Where things were very lovely but you would need to remortgage your house to shop there. Ah well. 

Our friends D & B had kindly agreed to host the Tea and Birthday Cake part of the day so we all decamped to their house. Where more friendly chatter and laughs were had and My Love enjoyed a relaxing time. Tea was made and poured and then D came through to join us with a lovely surprise...she had arranged the Vanilla & Lemon Curd Cake and the Gingerbread Cupcakes on a lovely cake stand. It was quite a beautiful moment and being the star that she is, she had taken some snaps of it before she had brought it through..so here are the fab photos...I had to share them with you..well it would've been rude not too! lol 

A Lovely Birthday Cake Stand

It was a lovely day and My Love enjoyed every relaxing second of it..so far being 41 hasn't been too shabby! lol

Look at those stars..so pretty! lol

Everyone who had cake enjoyed every mouthful...phew...my work here is done until the next birthday comes around..which is D's and it's very soon. And Green Tea Cup Cakes are the cake of choice this year..good choice! lol. 

And one final shot of the cakes...There are none left..says it all, eh? lol

A huge and hearty thanks go out to D & B for hosting a lovely Tea and Cake afternoon...and I have to say it was just so good being with our pals...and then of course there was the Drum lesson...where My Love was let loose with a drum kit with D's care and instruction and B & I played supportive roles on the Shekerie and the Tambourine..great times. 


Hope you all had as great a Sunday..
~R~

Gingerbread Cup Cakes with Lemon Icing

Kitchen Play List: Nickelback ~ Dark Horse Album

Today is My Love's birthday..the grand old age of 41..lol..I can laugh because I'm not quite 40..yet..but it's coming up quicker than I care to admit. My Love chose this as 'the official birthday cake' for this year. It's the last time I will be able to make these as they are on the Salicylate hit list. Not a great loss to me as I'm not the biggest crystalised ginger fan but My Love is and is devastated at this loss. Shame, eh? We are celebrating by meeting some of our friends in the city and having brunch so My Love can indulge in a large Kipper brunch. (Hey..I think that's gross too..but it's not my birthday..I shall enjoy my Berry Smoothie as I suffer in silence..lol) 

Gingerbread Cup Cakes with Lemon Frosting and Lemon Zest

This recipe was one of the first cup cake recipes I ever made. It is from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. A very excellent baking book. I made them for My Love's birthday that year too. And if molasses, maple, ginger and spices are your idea of heaven as it is My Love's..you should really try this recipe. It's easy to make...unless you are like me and end up wearing more molasses then you use for the recipe! lol I usually top them with the Lemon Buttercream Frosting as suggested in the book but as I couldn't guarantee keeping them cool as we are out on our travels today, I made a simple Lemon Water Icing and drizzled it over the cup cakes and sprinkled with a little lemon zest. 

A gratuitous close up shot..lol

Gingerbread Cupcakes Makes 12 cupcakes
(Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World/Moskowitz/Romero)

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soya milk
2 tbsp soya yoghurt
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup finely chopped crystalised ginger, finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4 and line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt into a bowl and mix. 

Whisk the oil, molasses, maple syrup, soya milk, yoghurt, and lemon zest in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold in the chopped crystalised ginger. 

Fill the cupcake liners two thirds full. Bake for 19-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean..(Usually 22 minutes ~R~) Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting. 

Lemon Water Icing

1 cup Icing sugar, approx
3 tsp Lemon juice, approx
water as needed

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and then add water as required to make the required consistency. Fill a small food bag with the icing and push down to one corner and snip off the corner and drizzle over the cup cakes in desired patterns. Have fun! lol. 

Sprinkle over with a little lemon zest if desired and then try and keep everyone away from them until party time. lol. 

Enjoy..My Love will! 
~R~
 

Birthday Indulgence ~ Vanilla Cake with Lemon Curd filling..and some stars..

Kitchen Play List: Tango & Mambo Caliente Album 

It is My Love's birthday this weekend and it will be the last one without food restrictions. So I am willing to spoil with Birthday Cup Cakes filled with all My Loves favourite ingredients like molasses, crystalised ginger, cloves, cinnamon and many of the other foods and spices that will be strictly off limits soon. But they are tomorrows posting! lol. I know..what a tease..lol.

Vanilla Cake with Lemon Curd and Star Sprinkles and Twirly Candle lol

Today's is another item on the 'hit' list..lemon peel. So I made a huge vanilla sponge and made some lemon curd to use as a filling and topping. It smelt so good whilst I was stood at the stove stirring patiently. I know..me? Thankfully it wasn't a lengthy process to get this lemon curd. It's not my usual recipe as I have lost my copy so it's one I quickly threw together and if I'm honest it could've been a little more yellow but as a filling it's just fine. I also scattered some little sugar stars over the top of the cake..well..just because they looked cute. lol. Why not? 

Yellow, Purple and White Star sprinkles top the thin layer of lemon curd on the top of the cake.

I know these recipes are all heavy on sugar and wheat but it's not something I do regularly...it's a birthday...and it's a treat. This weekend is not about healthy cooking..lol. 

As usual I used the E-Mans vanilla sponge recipe as it's such a good vanilla sponge and always works. For the recipe go to my Recipe Index and click on Vanilla Sponge Cake. 

Quick Vegan Lemon Curd Makes approx 1 cup

3 tbsp cornstarch
6-8 tbsp water
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
dash of soya milk


In a small saucepan add the lemon juice, zest, water and sugar and stir well to combine. 


In a small bowl place the cornstarch and add enough water to mix it to a smooth paste. Then add to the saucepan. Stir well to combine the ingredients. And heat through over a med heat. Stir frequently to make sure there is no burning. When the sauce starts to thicken, stir constantly until it begins to boil. Add the milk and then keep stirring for one more minute and then give it a final good stir. Take the pan off of the heat and leave it to cool. It will thicken a lot as it cools. 


Use as required..as a filling, sandwich filling, on toast...or in good old fashioned Lemon Curd Tartlets. 


We really enjoyed this cake and so did everyone who had a piece. Aren't birthdays fun?..lol.

Enjoy!
~R~