These easy to make burgers are absolutely delicious with a little tomato kasoundi or chilli chutney.  Using a little besan flour and some cooked vegies, these make a mean indian burger.

The burgers are vegan and what’s great about them is that they are a great base for any type of burger.  Next week, I’ll post another variety using the same base.  Try it out yourself or post some ideas you might have.

Makes:

• 4 large burgers

Ingredients:

• 8 tbs besan flour
• 0.25 red onion diced
• 1/2 carrot grated
• 1/2 cup SR flour
• pinch salt
• pinch white pepper
• 2 pinches cumin seeds
• water (enough to allow for a dry workable dough)

Instructions:

1. Brown the onion and cook the grated carrot till soft.  Set aside.
2. In a jug, mix all the dry ingredients together.
3. Mix in the cooked ingredients.
4. Pour enough water for a dry workable dough and knead.
5. Seperate into four balls and flatten to a burger shape.
6. Brown off the sides quickly.
7. Place on a lid to the pan and place on a low heat for five minutes, allowing to cook the insides and rise a little.
8. Serve with salad in a bun and kasoundi on top.

I’m a little late in posting the first recipe this week, after having a fairly big weekend.  We had our presentation night for hockey on Saturday night and, not only did I have a couple of drinks, but won Best & Fairest for our team.  It was certainly a surprise on my behalf and had not even thought about a speech!  However, I think it’s made me reconsider my thoughts of not playing on.

Moving on to the recipe…  This one is something I used to love as a meat eater and wanted to come up with a vegetarian version.  This came after ordering some meat subsitutes from veganperfection.com.au including the Cheatin’ Beef-Style Roast.  The roast was cooked the day before and the next day I used it for this recipe, tearing up into beef chunks.

Spezzatino is rich in flavour and is generally eaten as a casserole, but a few restaurants combine it with pasta for a chunky beef pasta.  This vegetarian / vegan version certainly is a great alternative and I’ll definitely be making this a regular in my kitchen.

Makes:

• 3 plates

Ingredients:

• 1/4 onion, diced
• 2 tsp garlic mince
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1 can tomatoes, peeled and mashed
• salt
• white pepper
• 0.5 package of cheatin beef-style roast, torn into bite-size pieces (cooked using instructions on pack)
• 1 tab porcini stock
• 1 tbs capsicum paste
• 3 serves fresh pasta, cooked and set aside

Instructions:

1. Brown the onion with the olive oil.
2. Mix in your garlic, capsicum paste and brown the beef pieces.
3. Add the stock, wine, tomato and seasoning.  Simmer for 30 minutes on the lowest setting.
4. Mix in the pasta and serve.

For those vegetarians that really miss their chicken schnitzel, I reckon this recipe might just resolve that problem for you.  I’ve seen many varieties but this seems to take on the same consistency as well as the beautiful breaded crumb outer layer.

Now if only we get some pubs to put it on their menu as an alternative to Schnitzel and beer special!

Makes:

• 4 schnitzels

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs gluten flour
• 1 tbs chicken salt flavour
• 1 tbs nutritional yeast
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp dill seeds
• 20 grams oats
• 1 tsp mustard
• 2 tbs rice flour
• 1/2 cup water

Breadcrumb mixture

• 3 tbs breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp parmesan
• cracked pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 360 degrees F.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a jug.
3. Place the wet ingredients in and stir until it starts to form a dry dough.
4. Leave for five minutes, so the dough settles.
5. Once it has settled, split the dough into four balls and flatten out to a schnitzel shape.
6. In a clean bowl, mix the parmesan, pepper and breadcrumbs togehter.
7. Pat the schnitzel in the mixture each side and sit aside.
8. Repeat for a double layer.
9. On a oiled tray, place in the oven for 5-10 minutes each side or until golden brown.
10. Serve straight from the oven.

If you don’t have any vegetarian mince handy for a quick pasta, don’t fret!  Head to your freezer and grab a couple of frozen vegetarian hamburgers!

This dish could easily be an alternative to the classic meatball dish, just defrost the burgers and tear them up into little bite size pieces.  Mix in some fresh basil and you have a delicious summer pasta.

Makes:

• 3 plates

Ingredients:

• 2 hamburgers, defrosted and torn
• handful basil, torn
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 tbs Kraft pourover cheese
• 1 tbs pepper / capsicum pure
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic mince
• 0.25 can tomato juice
• cracked pepper
• 3 serves rigatoni, cooked
• 2 tbs parmesan, grated

Instructions:

1. Brown your onions in a pan with the oil.
2. Place in the burgers and brown off each side.
3. Mix in the garlic, pepper paste, tomato juice and pourover cheese.
4. Toss in the pasta and basil and turn off the heat.  Allow the basil to wilt.
5. Mix in the parmesan and cracked pepper before serving.