Tag: mayonnaise

Potato and lentil soup

This no-fuss potato and lentil soup makes about 2.5 litres and takes about forty minutes to prepare and cook. It’s vegan and gluten free.

Soup with bread

Soup with bread

Potato and lentil soup with heart-shaped bread

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 vegan stock cube
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp dried rosemary (or two fresh rosemary sprigs)
  • 2 sprigs of tarragon (optional)
  • 2 brown onions
  • 5 large potatoes
  • Small handful of dried mushrooms
  • 500 gm rinsed red lentils
  • 2.5 litres of boiling water
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 tsp chilli
  • 5 heaped tbsp vegan mayo or vegan aioli
  • 2 heaped tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp tamari
  • 1 zucchini (optional)
  • Box of frozen spinach cubes – or a large bag of washed spinach

Method

Step 1. Add olive oil, salt, stock cube and rosemary leaves to a soup pot and turn the heat to high

Step 2. Chop the onions – no need for a fine dice. Quick and dirty is good enough.

Step 3. Chop the potatoes into approx. 1 to 1.5 cm cubes. Again, near enough is good.

Step 4. Put onions and potatoes into the pot and sauté for a few minutes.

Potatoes and onions sautéing in pot

Potatoes and onions sautéing in pot

Step 5. Break up the dried mushrooms and put them in the pot. Give it a stir.

Dried mushrooms in hand
Dried mushrooms in hand

Step 6. Rinse the lentils and put them in the pot and stir. Add the tarragon if you have it.

Add lentils to the pot
Add lentils to the pot

Step 7. Add 2.5 litres boiling water, stir.

Step 8. Add brown super, tamari, lemon juice, mayo and chilli and stir.

Step 9. Add frozen spinach and zucchini (if using). If you’re using fresh spinach, add it as the last step, after you turn off the heat and before you serve up.

Step 10. Cook on high until boiling, and then turn down the heat.

Step 11. Put the lid on and cook until the potatoes are cooked through (maybe 20 mins).Stir, taste, flavour to your liking (more salt, more lemon, more mayo, more chilli).

Lid’s on pot to cook the soup
Lid’s on pot to cook the soup

Cut shapes out of fresh bread (love hearts) and serve.

Lick the dish: soup with bread
Lick the dish: soup with bread

Mushroom sauce with alphabet soup pasta

I loServed up with cat in backgroundve mushrooms, and over the years I have bucked the trend that tells you to saute them with loads of room in a near-empty pan. Instead, I crowd the pan, cook them for ages, and add a little sugar – as I once saw Nick Nairn do – and then season them up and create a sauce. Every time I have delicious mushrooms.

Make this vegan by using vegan mayonnaise, adding extra pasta water and omitting the cream.

For the pasta, you can mix in alphabet pasta like I’ve done here or add homemade noodles or gnocchi.

If you don’t prefer pasta, the sauce pairs well with mashed potato and a little grated cucumber to respond to the saltiness. Add steamed brussels sprouts and beans at the end to extend the offering. Not much is off limits.

Ingredients

  • 500–700 g fresh mushrooms, sliced thinly. I like button mushrooms with a mix of whatever’s on special – shimeji, enoki, oyster, king brown – whatever you have or like, toss it in
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • fresh or dried rosemary to taste – I use about a tsp of dried or a tbsp fresh
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup pasta water
  • 2 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • 3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 300 g cooked pasta
  • a few generous handfuls of washed spinach leaves

How to

  1. Cook the alphabet pasta (or any pasta) in loads of salty water. Keep 1/4 cup pasta water aside, and then drain the pasta.
  2. Put a large pan on a high heat. Add oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle sugar over the top.
    Sweat mushrooms first step
  3. Let the mushrooms cook on high for around 10–12 minutes, tossing every minute or so. If they are too wet, don’t worry, the water evaporates if you have the courage to continue.
    Keep sweating mushrooms until they colour light brown
  4. When the mushrooms begin to colour, resist the urge to create the sauce right away – give it just that little bit longer and you’ll be rewarded with flavour. Turn the heat to low.
  5. Add tamari, pasta water, mayonnaise, cream and lemon juice, and stir through. Taste and adjust, adding a bit of sugar, lemon juice or tamari if the balance isn’t quite right.
  6. Put alphabet pasta on top of your mushroom sauce in the pan, and then top that with a few handfuls of washed baby spinach. Stir to combine.
  7. Serve it up and eat heartily. Remember to include your favourite drink and pal. Enjoy!
    Serve it up with cat in background Serve up with glass of wine in foreground and cat in background