If Waitrose is anything to go by, and let’s face it, it’s not a bad barometer, we’re in for a Merry Vegan Christmas.
The supermarket this week reported a 700% increase in pre-orders for its vegan Christmas offerings. Yes, you read that correctly, that’s 700%.
And it’s not just Waitrose that are taking advantage of the Vegan pound (that’s our term and we’re trademarking it) in 2020.
Tesco has already sold out online of its vegan turkey roast, leaving shoppers hoping to battle it out for any in-store stocks, but by the sound of it, there’s more chance of being able to buy the new XBox or Playstation, i.e. zero!
That’s because when the Chef hired to overhaul Tesco’s vegan range says it looks like turkey, carves like turkey and even tastes like turkey, and goes on to refer to it as a “game changer”, then you know they have something pretty good on their hands.
One thing’s for certain and that’s all the turkeys across the UK are starting to breathe a sigh of relief and who knows, they may even start voting for Christmas. Sorry, terrible joke we know, but it’s that time of the year.
Research reveals that more than one in four Britons plan to eat more vegan food at Christmas this year and this is no limited to just savoury fare. Another big seller in 2020 is the Veganettone which are vegan panettones made using traditional sourdough starters and leavening techniques, but without butter and egg yolks.
All this makes us wonder how long Veganuary will continue (for a while yet we hope Chef Chris because you are doing vegan-based recipes throughout January) because pretty soon every month will be vegan month.
Which is just fine with us!
Vegan taste of beetroot and leek
Beet
Wellington
- Duxelle
- 200g button mushroom
- 100g diced shallots
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 30g olive oil
- 10g fresh chopped parsley
To assemble:
- 1 ready rolled puff pastry
- 4 small pre-cooked beetroots boiled in salted water till tender
- 1 leek
In a food processor blend together the mushrooms, garlic,
shallots and parsley till a rough paste is formed. Put a pan on a medium heat
and add the olive oil when the oil is hot add your mushroom paste fry until the
mixture is dry and caramelised. Leave to cool.
Meanwhile take your leek and cut the bottom off, then
using a sharp knife run the blade from the top of the leek to the bottom this
will separate the layers of leek you will need 8 in total for the whole recipe.
These are going to replicate the job of a crepe in beef wellington. Put a pan
of boiling salted water on the heat and bring to the boil. When the water is
boiling place your layers of leek in and blanch for 30 seconds to a minute.
This will make them easier to mould and work with. Place in cold water to cool
then pat dry with kitchen paper. Reserve 4 for a later part of the recipe.
To form your beet wellingtons cut a square of your
blanched leek big enough to wrap your beetroot. Spread a thin layer of the duxelle
on then place your beetroot on top and fold the edges round your beetroot
encasing it in the layer of leek. Wrap in cling film and firmly shape into a
ball. Repeat for the other beetroots. Chill for 30 minutes.
Take your puff pastry and cut out a disk big enough to
wrap round your beetroot. Remove the cling film and place your chilled beetroot
ball in the middle of the puff pastry and then take the edges of the pastry and
bring them to the middle wrapping your beetroot in the pastry, crimp the edges
together to seal it. Place in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes
Preheat your oven to 200oc and bake for 30 minutes till
the pastry is golden brown and flaky.
Parsnip
puree
- 390g peeled diced parsnips
- 60g vegan butter
- 50g olive oil
- 180g soy milk
- 50g water
- 1tsp salt
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the parsnips
and cook until the parsnips are tender, drain the parsnips and put into food
blender with all the other ingredients and blend till smooth, thick and glossy.
Put to one side in a pan till you are ready to reheat when serving.
Beetroot
and leek cannelloni
- 60g olive oil plus extra for cooking
- 1 diced precooked beetroot boiled in salted water
- 30g vegan butter
- 150g diced leek
- 150g diced cooked beetroot
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 100g water
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- Pinch of dried sage
- 60g vegan goats cheese
- 4 reserved leek layers
- Salt and pepper
In a frying pan heat up the oil and vegan butter then add the leeks, garlic, beetroot and sage. Cook till soft and caramelised then add the breadcrumbs and vegan goats cheese and season with salt and pepper and cook till the cheese is melted into the breadcrumbs and a stuffing mixture is formed. Leave to cool.
To form the cannelloni place a spoonful of the mixture at one end of the leek layer. Then wrap up the mixture in the layer of leek tightly wrapping as you go making a cannelloni tube shape. Once you have made 4 of these chill in the fridge for 1 hour to let the stuffing mixture set. Once chilled place a frying pan with a Tbsp. of oil in on the heat. When the oil is hot place your four cannelloni in and fry for 5-8 minutes till the leek is golden and the centre is piping hot.
Sweet
potato mash
- 3 large sweet potatoes
- 50g vegan butter
- Salt and pepper
Peel the sweet potatoes and dice up into large squares
and boil in salted water till soft and cooked, using a potato masher, mash the
potatoes with vegan butter and season with salt and pepper. Leave to one side
till you are ready to reheat.
Beetroot and leek jus
- 40g cooked beetroot
- 40g diced leek
- 30g olive oil
- 30g vegan butter
- 10g vegan gravy granules
- 10g red wine vinegar
- 5g sugar
- 100g water
In a frying pan heat up the oil and fry the leeks till
they are golden brown, then add the rest of the other ingredients cook together
for 5 minutes then transfer to a food blender and blitz till smooth. Put back
in a pan ready to heat up when serving
To finish heat everything up making sure it all piping hot and serve.
About Chris Brown
Sous Chef of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
