The vegan Christmas menu that’s what you were looking for, right? We are not talking about obvious dishes based on vegetables and legumes, but about real special recipes studied with the scientific advice of the nutritional biologist Alvise Cavalieri and then prepared by our historic chef Joëlle Néderlants in the editorial kitchen.
With the presence of lentilsof the chickpeas and of soy the right amount of is guaranteed vegetable proteins, well assorted with the carbohydrates and fibers of vegetables, present in abundance. Finally, the pomegranate of the dessert is important for its tannins, astringent substances that not only refresh the flavor of the panna cotta, but also perform a useful antioxidant function.
The vegan Christmas menu of The Italian kitchen
Starter: Lentil and American potato pie
First course: Celeriac lasagne, chickpea cream and smoked tofu
Dessert: Almond milk panna cotta with pomegranate
Lentil and American potato pie
Commitment: Easy
Time: 50 minutes
Vegan
Ingredients for 4 people
- 500 g American potatoes
- 240 g boiled lentils
- 150 g soy milk
- 120 g carrot
- 100 g celery stalk
- 20 g cherry tomatoes in oil
- 1 small red onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- marjoram
- bread crumbs
- extra virgin olive oil
- nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
Method
- Peel the American potatoes, cut them into pieces, place them in a pan with the soy milk, a pinch of salt and cook for 18-20 minutes with the lid on, until they begin to fall apart.
- Season them with plenty of grated nutmeg and freshly ground pepper; reduce them to a rustic puree, with the help of a hand whisk.
- Peel and cut the celery, carrot and onion into chunks. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and fry the chopped vegetables with garlic and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes; remove the garlic, add the chopped cherry tomatoes in oil and the lentils, season with salt and pepper and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and flavor with the leaves of 2 sprigs of marjoram.
- Distribute the mixture into 4 single-portion baking dishes (ø 8 cm), then fill with a layer of puree, leveling it well with the back of a spoon, and completing with a generous
sprinkled with breadcrumbs.
- Bake on the lowest shelf of the oven, at 200°C, in grill mode, for 10 minutes; Remove from the oven, leave to cool for 2-3 minutes and serve.
Celeriac lasagne, chickpea cream and smoked tofu
Commitment: easy
Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Vegan
Ingredients for 8 people
- 1.5 kg celeriac
- 700 g boiled chickpeas
- 250 g beets
- 200 g tomato puree
- 175 g smoked tofu
- 150 g vegetable broth
- 1 clove of garlic
- smoked paprika
- mixed seeds
- lemon
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Method
- Clean the celeriac and cut it into slices about 2 mm thick; cook them in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes, drain them and dry them on kitchen paper.
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a saucepan with the crushed garlic clove with its peel, add the puree, add salt and cook the tomato sauce for 15-20 minutes.
- Cut 125 g of tofu into small cubes.
- Blend 580 g of chickpeas with a pinch of salt, the vegetable broth and 60 g of oil to obtain a cream.
- Brown the rest of the chickpeas in a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, a sprinkling of smoked paprika and 1 tablespoon of mixed seeds; then mix them with the diced tofu.
- Wash the beets, dry them and sauté them in a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, over high heat, for 2 minutes; separate the leaves from the ribs and chop the latter.
- Distribute a few spoonfuls of chickpea cream in a rectangular baking dish (30×18 cm); create a first layer of celeriac slices, overlapping them slightly; spread another layer of chickpea cream, add a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce, chard leaves, a few chopped stems, a few spoonfuls of chickpeas sautéed with tofu; repeat the operation two more times, finishing with a layer of chickpea cream, a few tablespoons of tomato sauce, chard, sautéed chickpeas, a couple of tablespoons of mixed seeds and 50 g of grated tofu.
- Bake at 180°C for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and complete with grated lemon zest.
