01x01 - Spaghetti Bolognese

[bunniefuu]

The way the nation is eating
is changing fast,

and we all know we should be
eating a lot less meat,

and l 'm going to prove to you it's
a lot easier than you may think.

The supermarket shees
are packed full of meat

and dairy aernatives,

but which ones
are packed full of flavour?

I 'll experiment to find out
which products deserve

a permanent place in your kitchen.

I 'll be sharing my recipes
for classic dishes

and fami favourites
to prove to you

you can say goodbye to meat
without saying goodbye

to your favourite foods.

Move over bland lentil stews
and soggy nut roasts,

this is how you cook
proper vegetarian food

like you won't believe.

Join me and live life on the veg!

I n this show
I 'm making a veggie version

of one of Britain's favourite
mea - spaghetti bolognese.

That is real delicious.

And jane Baxter's making
us Asian-inspired crispy

cauliflower burgers
with kimchi mayo.

It's a monster!

Celeriac is our hero veg
of the day.

That's so good.

And there's a magical
transformation

of the water from chickpeas
into a delicious vegan dessert

that's a show stopper -
peach melba pavlova.

There's on one thing
left to do, isn't there?

Spaghetti bolognese is
a firm favourite in my household

and so many houses around Britain,

so l thought it'd be
a great idea to show you

a fantastic vegetarian version.

I promise you,
you won't miss the meat at all.

And it all starts with texture.

The best way to get texture,
believe it or not,

is from some mushrooms.

Mushrooms take a lot of cooking

and they still kind of retain
their density

and their bite,
so they're essential in this.

Ao, some walnuts.

Now walnuts,
it sounds a little strange,

but so much ltalian cooking
uses walnuts in particular.

You know what? lt's the
combination of the flavours

and the textures from the
mushrooms and those walnuts

that make this dish so special.

So, first thing you need to do
is blitz up

both the mushrooms and the walnuts.

And you want to keep it
quite sort of coarse,

so just pue it.

So you want these kind of
nice, big grains almost.

Right, so on with the base.

Now the base of so many good sauces
in French cookery,

in ltalian cookery,
is carrot, onion and celery.

And if you sweat these down,
they're kind of the building blocks

and the foundation
of so much flavour.

If l was making a meat version,
I would probab blitz it in this,

because the sofrito,
as it's known in Ita,

is broken down, and it kind of
mes into the sauce.

But you want that texture, you want
that body and you want that bite.

So l 'm just going to chop it
by hand.

Carrot.

And last, an onion.

So, a real good glug of olive oil

and then you want to
sweat the veg down

for around about ten t015 minutes,
until it's nice and soft.

And that'll bring out all that
sweetness and all the flavour.

Give it a good season now
with a decent amount of sa.

That's going to bring out
a lot of the waters,

the natural kind of juices
in the veg.

It's ao going to prevent it
from browning.

So make sure you sweat this for
around sort of ten to 15 minutes,

until it's nice softened,

and then in with
a couple of cloves of garlic.

OK, so the vegetables
are softening nice.

Now, a nice little trick -

so what you want to do is
grate your Parmesan

until you've got that rind.

Don't throw that away cos
there's so much flavour in here.

Chuck that in, and that's going to
pull out a real nice

kind of deep, cheesy flavour.

OK, herbs.
I like using a lot of fresh herbs,

l 'm going to use
a stick of rosemary in this.

And a little pinch of oregano.

So when the veg is softened

and everything is looking
good to go,

then grab your walnuts and your
mushrooms, and in they go.

So this will take around ten minutes

to real concentrate
those flavours,

but keep an eye on it
because it will catch.

So you can see the mushrooms,

they've concentrated,
they've changed colour -

much, much more dense.

Right, so, in with a splash of wine.

Round about a small glass,

and then a bay leaf.

Then in with tomatoes.

So now we leave this
to cook very gent

for about sort of 20 to 30 minutes,

and what you're doing is you're
reducing all those liquids

and intensifying the flavour.

So, on to the spaghetti.

I nto some pretty heavi saed
boiling water.

Last thing we need to do
is a generous portion of butter.

Turn the heat off,
and then stir that in

and that's going to get it
real kind of rich and veety.

Now, this looks like a lot,
but this is for four people.

And that is the bolognese finished,

so the next important thing
is to get the pasta into this pan.

And what you want to do is
to coat the pasta in the sauce,

to soak up all those
delicious flavours.

And, final finish with
a good amount of Parmesan.

So, there you go.

That is a brilliant
vegetarian bolognese.

Right, let's try it.

That is real delicious.

Delicious. And you will not
miss the meat at all.

There's no polite way
of eating this.

I 'm just going to enjoy it.

Coming up, l 'll show you how
to turn a celeriac

into a Kiev that everyone will love.

It's just delicious.

Jane Baxter is making
a crispy cauliflower burger

with kimchi mayo.

Real, real crispy. Yeah.
That's great batter.

To try any of the recipes
from the series, go to:

Now, some people think
that vegetarian food

can be a bit dull and boring,

but l 'm going to prove to you
it can be real, real exciting,

vibrant and delicious.

Now, celeriac. This
is one of my favourites.

It might look ug -
it looks a bit like a weird alien,

but once you cut
all that outer skin off,

you've got this beautiful
white flesh inside.

Now, l 'm guessing you know
what to do with a parsnip -

you peel it, you chop it up,

you put it into cold saed water,
bring it to the boil.

You would do exact the same with
celeriac on its most basic level.

But this can be eaten raw,

it makes the most fantastic
kind of veety soups.

It's one of my favourite soups
actual.

The taste is a little bit,
kind of, think celery

but not quite
as pronounced as celery.

So celery crossed with
maybe a potato.

Little bit, kind of, almost lemony.

Little bit, kind of, citric.

Now l 've got the perfect recipe
for this

but first, l need
a few more ingredients.

Now, when you think of Kiev,
you think of that 1970s classic,

where you've got chicken and it's
encasing that moen garlic butter

and when you cut into it, it
kind of all oozes over the plate.

I used to love it.

So, l 'm going to show you a version
now using this ug beast.

It's going to be a real
kind of centre showpiece.

I 'm going to serve that with
some honey roasted green beans.

When you look at the celeriac
there's a line on the top.

Now you need to follow that
with a knife

and take the outer layer off.

So, straight in haff.

I 'm going to shape it
just a little bit,

and then we're going to plunge it
in some boiling say water,

for about sort of 10-15 minutes
until it just starts to soften.

Right, l 'm going to put
a little bit of sage

and parsley in with the butter.

And then real
as much garlic as you like.

I like it quite strong,

so for this l 'm going to put in
two cloves.

And this already smel
absolute delicious.

On with the butter. So for this
amount I 'm just going to use

about haff a pack of butter.

But you remember, this is
an integral part of Kiev.

It's that kind of oozing,

meing butter
that just floods into the dish.

Celeriac should be ready,

so just let it cool.

I n the meantime, we need to get
what we call a pane ready.

So we're using the oat milk,
using flour and the crumbs.

The crumbs being the hazelnuts
and the breadcrumbs.

I n with the oat milk.

To help that stick,
we need some flour

and then final our crumbs.

So these are what you call
panko breadcrumbs,

so they're freeze dried

and they're real, real crunchy.
They're delicious.

And then in with the hazelnuts.

So at this point, you want
to take a v-shaped wedge

and there's a nice little natural
dip inside the celeriac.

Right, then take a spoon -
just spoon out a little bit more,

so you can pack it with the butter.

Right, so, in with the butter.

Full of all those flavours.

You know, the sage, parsley,
the garlic - just delicious.

Put the wedge back in
and there you go,

that's ready to pane now.

So, just a real
light coating of the flour,

and then in to the oat milk,
into the crumb.

Be real, real generous
with that.

So there you go. That is your Kiev.

Now, we're going to pan roast this.

So, in with some olive oil.

When your oil is hot,
in with the Kiev

and grab yourseff a spoon

and then you basical
need to baste it.

Right, so after a couple of minutes,
just before it goes into the oven,

big knob of butter

and that's going to
automatical give it

bags and bags of flavour,

it's going to go nice and brown

and then baste your Kiev in that.

One last baste,
and then into the oven.

Goes in about 180 degrees
for around about 15 to 20 minutes

until it's nice and crispy,
and it's warm through the middle.

So, while the Kiev's in the oven,

let's get on with the green beans.

Decent amount of sa,

decent amount of pepper.

Olive oil again,
and then a little bit of thyme

and a smashed garlic clove.

OK, so throw them onto a
tray, and then into the oven.

Same oven as the celeriac

for around about 10-15
minutes again.

And if you look at that,

you can see that celeriac's
coming on real nice.

Right, let's check it.
It should be ready now.

It is. Look at that.

Looks great.

So the beans are looking good.

Now l 'm just going to finish those
with a little bit of soy

and a little bit of honey.

Sweetness, sainess.

OK, and we're good to go.
Good to plate up.

So there you go, that's it.

That is my celeriac Kiev

with honey roasted green beans.

So, let's dive into the middle

and have a look for the butter,
and you can see it there.

So that celeriac has absorbed

all those garlic and that sage
and that parsley flavour.

That's so good.

You've got that familiar crunch of
the Kiev, like you might remember,

you've got that real strong
powerful garlic and sage hit,

and that creaminess of the celeriac,
I mean, it's a real winner.

It's just delicious.

And there you go -
that is Kiev in a nutshel

or in a celeriac.

Jane Baxter is a beacon
of vegetable knowledge.

Now chefs like Rick Stein
and Yotam Ottolenghi

real, real rate her.

She knows everything
there is to know about veg,

so l can't wait
to pick up some tips from her.

So, where do you get your recipe
ideas from?

Other people, generally. Yeah?
Yeah.

I get mine from you.

Yeah, I know you do!

So, what are you doing today?

I 'm going to show you how
to cook vegetables properly.

Are you? Yes, I am. Real? I am.

OK. Wow!

Then we're starting at a low point.

Well, we always are with you,
Matt, so...

Harsh. There's only
one way and it's up.

Right, come on then, let's go.

I am going to cook you a fried
cauliflower with kimchi mayo,

pickled cucumber... Right.
..and Asian coleslaw.

I 'd like you to help
with the cucumber.

Fine. So how do you want it?

Seeds out and then we're gonna
salt them

because there's a lot of water
in cucumber.

Can you cut them... do it like that,
so we get nice little half moons?

I 'm sure l could... I 'm sure you
can... probab cope with that,

yeah, thanks.
THEY LAUGH

OK, what now?

We're going to make our
kimchi mayo.

So kimchi. Delicious sour, spicy.

And what is it, fermented cabbage?
It's fermented cabbage.

Sometimes it has that little
kind of fizz to it,

which sounds unpleasant,
but it real isn't.

But even after being fermented,

it's still kind of crunchy,
isn't it? Yeah.

I love that.
It has great texture,

but we are going to blitz it now,
so...

To give it zero texture!

So I 've put in here three
tablespoons of the white miso

and I 'm gonna add
a couple of tablespoons.

That's hefty on miso.

Yeah, it is hefty. It is hefty.

So this is real kind of...

This is a rich, big mayo.
It's punchy.

Yeah, it's great.
And in the silken tofu. Right.

And a couple of teaspoons of honey,

just to get that balance of honey

and the sourness from the vinegar.

Rice vinegar. Rice vinegar.

And sesame oil. Mm-hm.

BLENDER TURNS ON

Just gonna blitz this now...

and then add about 100 ml
of flavourless oil.

It's chunky. It's chunky. Yeah. OK.

So it emulsifies beautifully.
That's it? That's it.

OK, the slaw. Mm-hm. Really basic.

A bit of cabbage, grated carrots,

a little bit of grated apple.

It's a version of
the Thai dish som tam,

so that's using, you know,
green papaya or green mango-

OK, happy? Yeah, cool.

I n there? Yep. OK, what now?

You can finely slice about
a quarter of that pepper. Yeah.

I 'm gonna do some grated carrot...

and a bit of grated apple.

A few spring onions,
little bit of tomato, diced.

So we're gonna make a Thai dressing

using lime juice, sugar, tamarind...
OK.

A bit of squished garlic,
about a quarter of that.

OK. Chopped red chilli.

Stick some beansprouts in there.
Mm-hm.

A few toasted peanuts. Yeah.

I 'm gonna add some
coriander and mint. OK.

We're gonna move onto the cucumber

that's been draining over here.
Right.

So I 'm gonna put this in here,
just dried it a little bit. Yeah.

So in here I 've got
some sunflower oil,

some sesame seeds
and dried chilli flakes. Right.

Where's that gonna end up? So
that is gonna end up in here. OK.

So I just need to brown off
the sesame seeds a little bit.

Mm-hm, OK. And I 'm gonna add a
few tablespoons of vinegar to this,

rice vinegar, and some sugar.

So, cauliflower. Cauliflower.

Right, what do you wanna do
with this?

I would like you to slice it
into thin steaks,

about a centimetre thick,

and when you do that, I 'm gonna
get the batter ingredients ready.

About that big?

Yeah, cool.

Perfect. OK, so the soy yoghurt,

we're going to use as
the first part of our batter

and we're gonna season this
with some of this,

and I don't know if
I 'm gonna be able to say it.

Then do it and l can laugh at you.

Togarashi.

I don't know. OK.

It's a Japanese seasoning. Yeah,
I 've seen this. Togarashi.

It has pepper in... Togarashi?

Yeah, different types of
pepper and chilli.

So this is cornflour and rice flour,

and we're gonna put in a little bit
of seaweed seasoning

and a bit of salt in here, too.

This is the very, very messy bit.

So why do you do it
in the kind of reverse order?

Because you just get this
crunch on it

and then you'll see, it is worth it.
It's worth the trouble. Mm-hm.

Right, it's going in.

What's left to do? Assemble it.
Is that it? That's it.

Shall l clear the table? I think
you need to clear the table, yep.

They look nice. Yeah.

Very crispy. Very crisp.

Nice. You know what you're doing.

OK, we have our buns,
a little bit of this. Yeah.

And then a bit of the slaw

and then the cucumber.

It's a monster!

THEY LAUGH

Which one's mine? That one.

The big one? The big one.

Obvious. Right, coming?

Yeah. OK.

Oh, my word.

Real, real crispy. Yeah.
That's great batter.

There are so many flavours in here.

You've got the kimchi, you've got
tamarind, you've got miso.

Lime, chilli, sesame.
Lime, chilli...

That is a total resu. Good.

I love it. Absolute love it.
So much going on.

Cheers. Cheers.
Thank you very much.

Cheers. Lovely.

Coming up, l 'll be taste testing
some vegan sausages

to find out which ones are the best

and l 'll be transforming
some chickpea water,

some peaches and some coconut milk
into a fabulous pavlova.

I mean, how do l get into this?

To try any of the recipes
from the series, go to...

More people than ever before are
changing to vegetarian mea,

and l 'll help you make that change
easi without losing any flavour.

Now, who doesn't love the idea
of a real, real good fry up

or a great sausage sandwich?

Vegan and vegetarian sausages were
one of the first things to hit

the supermarket shees
many years ago

and there's loads and loads
to choose from.

So l 'm heading to a vegan cafe
to try some

and see if any of them
"meat" the mark.

Good sausages are on
a lot of people's list

of desert island dishes.

Let's face it, you can't beat
a good plate of bangers and mash.

Morning.
Hey, morning. Good to see you.

You can now get vegan sausages
easi in supermarkets everywhere.

OK, so here we go

with the full English
and a sausage sandwich.

Right. And the chorizo frittata.

OK. So with the full English,

we're using the Linda McCartney
sausages-

I n the sausage sandwich,
we're using a Richmond sausage.

And in the frittata...
That looks great.

Yeah, we've got a
Sainsbury's Shroomdog,

which is a kind of chorizo flavour.

Awesome. Enjoy, yeah. Let me know
what you think. Thanks. Cheers.

The first thing that strikes me,

this is a full English

and there's salad on
my full English.

So let's try the sausages.

So these sausages,
very, very crispy on the outside.

They taste like
a vegetarian sausage.

They're not trying too hard
to be meat.

It's real on in appearance

and that, maybe that kind of
crispness on the outside.

So let's try this.

I 'd be hard pressed to know

that that was a vegan sausage,
to be honest.

Like the sort of sausage you'd
find at a football ground.

So this is frittata made
with mushrooms.

That is very, very tasty.

It's not that classic sausage taste,
but it's quite spicy.

But it's ao got that kind
of mushroomy taste,

which l real like.

Honest, l 'm real
pleasant surprised.

This is not what l was expecting.

Three very different styles
of sausage here,

all quite tasty, l have to say,

but l 'm gonna choose these
Richmond sausages.

They're the most sort of
classic tasting,

and l 've got the perfect recipe
for this.

So l 've found the vegetarian sausage

that l wanna use in this
classic British recipe

of toad in the hole.

First thing l 'm gonna do is
get the tin.

Now, this is gonna be
the serving tin.

We've got our sausages

and l 'm gonna put some onions
and some herbs in there.

You'll need some oil.

I n with the sausages.

They've got an unusual texture
at this point.

They're very, very soft.

I n with some onions,

sa and pepper...

and then all-important herbs.

So a bit of rosemary.

Just pick the tops off of this.

And then a little bit of thyme,
real fragrant,

real kind of earthy,
brings a lot to the dish.

Sprinkle over the thyme,

and that's it.

So that's now going into a hot oven,
220,

until you make the batter,
and then we're gonna pull it out,

pour the batter mix in
and then put it back.

OK, so on with the batter,

and this is the all-important part.

Plain flour,

good amount of seasoning...

and then just make a bit of
a well in the middle.

And that's where you're gonna
put your liquid.

And we're gonna put some milk
and a couple of eggs.

And then the milk.

Now, the idea is that when you
slow incorporate the liquids,

you're pulling in the flour
from around the sides.

And the idea with this is that
you don't get any lumps.

This is why you shouldn't
arm wrestle a chef, ever.

I love this dish. This is one of
the first dishes I was ever shown

by my grandmother
many many years ago

when l was about five years old
one Christmas,

and it was a real revelation

to watch this sloppy batter
being poured into a baking tray,

put in the oven,

and then it comes out looking
just kinda magica real.

And l still hold that nostalgia
for this dish. It's just great.

OK, we're good to go.

So this is the consistency
that you're looking for.

Kind of rich double cream.

So on with the gravy.

Onion gravy.

I 'm using red onions for this.

They're just a touch sweeter
than the white onions.

So a decent amount of butter.

And then in with the onions.

Now, this is a real nice tip.

Don't season them just yet,

leave them for about
sort of 10 to 15 minutes,

and they'll start to caramelise
much, much nicer.

If you season them too soon,

it brings out all the natural juices
and water from the onions

and you don't get
such a good colour.

So l 'm gonna add some garlic
and some more herbs,

some more rosemary,
a little bit of sage.

OK, so the onions are doing nice,

l 'm real pleased with those,
so let's check the sausages.

Yep, and they're in a good place.

So l can see the sausages
are browning nice.

I 've got the oil bubbling.

That's real, real important
for toad in the hole.

So then pour the batter in

and then immediate
get it back in the oven.

And l can see it just sizzling
at the edges.

OK, so l can see these are
browning nice,

so now you can season them.

And this is where we start adding
bags and bags of flavour.

So about a large wine glass full
of red wine.

So that's gonna boil off
all the alcohol

and you're gonna be left with that
delicious red wine taste,

but you want to kind of sweeten it.

So for that, l 'm gonna add
a little bit of cranberry sauce.

If you don't have cranberry sauce,
redcurrant jel.

Just something to just take off
the edge of that wine.

There's a lotta sugar in there,

and as soon as it goes into the pan,

you can see it's coating the onions
and they're getting

all kind of shiny and glossy.

And final just a touch of this,
yeast extract.

This is gold.
It gives so much flavour,

brings so much depth.

Again, it's pretty strong,
so go easy.

Wow. OK.

I can already smell it.
It smel real, real strong.

It's real... real meaty smelling.

Great depth.

When you're happy that
the onions are nice soft

and you've got that beautifu
dark kind of caramel colour,

and all that flavour's in there,
then add your stock.

Obvious, l 'm using veg stock.

And when you add stock,
make sure you reduce it,

bring it right the way down,

and that's going to intensify
those flavours.

It's starting to smell
real, real good.

Exact what you want from
a real good, rich onion gravy.

So the gravy's ready. Let's see
what's going on in the oven.

That looks real good.

Look at that.

I mean, this looks great.

This is one of my favourites,
you know this,

and it's just comforting stodge
at its very best.

All we need is gravy.

And look at that gravy.

Dark, rich, inviting.

OK, let's eat.

MUSIC PLAYS

This is a great version of
a fantastic British classic,

and it's vegetarian,

and you're not missing it at all.

Crunch meringue,

delicious vanilla whipped cream,

coconut caramel sauce.

You won't believe this show stopping
dessert is actual vegan.

So let's make my
peach melba pavlova.

So first thing you need
is the meringue.

So here l 've got aquafaba,
the liquid from the chickpeas.

Never throw it away,
it's real, real handy,

and it works in exact the same way

as traditional egg white.

So you need some sugar
and some cream of tartar.

Just a tiny quarter of a teaspoon.

Best off using a hand whisk,

otherwise you'll be here
for quite a while.

And then start slow,

get those bubbles going,

get the cream of tartar
incorporated,

and then bit by bit,
start adding the sugar.

But the more sugar that goes in,

the more stable it becomes.

Start off with about
a teaspoon at a time.

So there you go. That is it.
And look at that.

That is a thick, glossy meringue,

and it's hard to believe that that
has come from that aquafaba,

that chickpea water that normal,
you'd chuck down the sink

and discard. But look,

that is the classic sign
of meringue.

Holds its shape.

It's a great replacement
for egg white.

So...

let's bake it.

So little tip.

Dot your tray with a bit of meringue

and that holds down the paper.

And all l did to get the shape was
to draw around a plate.

Make sure they're quite thick

cos they've got quite
a lot to support.

OK, so these are ready to go in
the oven.

They're gonna go in low and slow,

so1oo degrees for
around about 90 minutes.

You can't rush these.

So while the meringues are in
the oven,

let's do the rest of it.
I 'm gonna make a caramel now.

I 've got some coconut milk
and I 've got some brown sugar.

For the coconut milk,
it's real important

that you get the high fat stuff.
Don't get low fat.

So stir over medium heat,

just until the sugar starts
to dissoe,

and then you need to
keep an eye on it,

stirring occasional for around
about 30 to 40 minutes.

Let's get on with the fruit.

Classical, peach melba
uses peaches.

So l 'm gonna caramelise
a couple of these

and then l 'm gonna toss them in
some brown sugar

and some dark rum.

Here l 've got some icing sugar,

so dust them quite liberal.

So that's what you're looking for,

that nice kind of
dark golden caramel.

When they're ready,
just put them to one side.

I n this hot pan where you've got
all that nice

kind of caramelised peach juices,

we're just gonna deglaze

with a little bit of rum.

So a bit of dark rum,

that'll bring all those flavours
off the base of the pan

and just add a splash in there.

So add some brown sugar

and then make a little
rum sugar syrup.

It's aays important
to try these things.

So the peaches, they're gonna
sit in that rum nice

and soak up all those flavours.

We're just waiting for
the meringues now.

OK, so the meringues...

are ready to start plating up.

We're gonna bind all this together
with some whipped cream.

Now, traditional, vegan cream
has been quite tricky

cos you can't whip it,

but now there are a few products
on the market that you can,

so it's worth having a look
for them.

So l 'm gonna whip this up
with a little bit of vanilla

and a bit of icing sugar.

That is the consistency that you
want,

nice and thick.

Last, slice up
some more fresh peach

and that's gonna go through
those layers.

OK, so this is the fun bit.

Let's put it together.

So you need to be carefu

cos this meringue is
pretty delicate.

If it comes out of the oven,
it might be cracked,

but you can aays weld it back
together with the cream.

But don't go all the way
to the edge,

cos as the meringue is topped,

it'll compress and all the cream
will squirt out the sides.

Put some of the fresh peaches
in there.

Raspberries, as well.

A little bit of toasted coconut

for a little bit of texture.

Layer two.

Go easy here, nice and delicate.

The final layer.

Just push it down ever so gent.

This is taking all my concentration,

but it'll be worth it.

We've got the rum soaked peaches,

we've got the fresh peaches,

the raspberries,

then we've got some of
our coconut carame

dripping over the side like that.

Then this is our
rum and peach juice.

A little bit more coconut,

just dry toasted in a pan.

And then some toasted almonds.

You want that texture,
and that's what you'll get.

That's my peach melba pavlova.

It's vegan, and it's
a bit of a showstopper.

There's on one thing left
to do, though, isn't there?

I mean, how do l get into this?

It's pretty good.

You'd never know that was vegan,

and all this from chickpea
water. Real?

Just goes to show what you can do.

Cheers. Cheers. Enjoy.

Coming up, Anna Haugh will be
joining me in the kitchen

to share her recipe for a
delicious vegan artichoke risotto.

This is real good.

To try any of the recipes
from the series, go to...

Eating vegetarian food opens up
a whole new world of recipes,

exploring the wide variety
of flavours and textures

that veg has to offer.

Risotto is a great comfort dish

that's traditional enriched
with butter and Parmesan.

Now my friend Anna is gonna
make me a vegan version,

and she assures me it's every bit
as delicious as the original.

OK, so you're making
a vegan risotto.

A Jerusalem artichoke vegan risotto,
especially for you

to change your mind on what you
think vegan risottos are like.

I love these.

They honestly, it's one of
my favourite vegetables.

I think it's so special,

and they're grown in the U K,
which I think... and Ireland,

which makes it really, really
special and really nice.

So first things first
I 'm gonna get my risotto on.

Right. OK. OK.

Get rid of this. Do you want
a glass of wine? Yes, please!

Cheers. Cheers. Enjoy. Right.

So first things first,
I 'm going to dice up

a bit of shallot to go on the base.

OK. This gives a bit
of natural sweetness

and a bit of depth to flavour.

OK, so at this stage,
would you aays use oi

or would you use butter, normal?

I would normally, if I 'm honest,
I am... you know,

with my Irish beating heart,

I would be butter up
to my eyeballs. Yeah, OK.

But, um... you did ask me
to make a vegan dish,

so here is a vegan dish
for you, Matt. Yes, I did.

Right,
so I 'm gonna slice my garlic.

And a little pinch of salt.

Now, I 'm gonna grate some of
the artichokes,

and some of the artichokes
are gonna go in now

and then later on, I 'm gonna make
some crisps. OK.

So you've got, like, two flavours
of the artichoke. It's delicious.

So grate with the skin on.

They're washed.
So once they're washed,

then you don't need to peel them.

You've got more nutrition inside it,

you've got better textures inside
it. There's no reason to peel it.

So once that my onions and my garlic
and my vegetables

have softened up enough that I feel
the flavour's matured with them,

I 'm ready to get my rice in. OK.

So you want to add in about a glass,
maybe, of white wine.

You don't wanna waste it.
OK, large glass? Yeah.

Wl NE HISSES

And that's what you want to happen?

Exactly.

So this is actually a great tip.
Mm-hm.

When you go to a really posh
restaurant,

they're gonna make a risotto
like this with Sauternes wine.

It's really expensive sweet wine.

But by using, you know,
your favourite dry white wine

and a little pinch of sugar... OK.
..you kinda can cheat that a bit.

OK.

Now I 'm gonna add my stock.

So my stock is nice and warm

so that it immediately starts
to cook into the rice.

And now I 'm going to move on to
making my pickled shallot.

I n a pan, I 'm going to put some
red wine vinegar. OK.

Approximately about 100ml,

and then the same amount of water
as vinegar.

And then approximately about
half of that weight in sugar.

So if it's about 100g of vinegar,
it would be 50g.

So I 'm just gonna bring that up
to the boil... OK.

And pour it on top of my shallot.

And then I 'm gonna take a beetroot.

I think it's time to get
a little bit more stock in here.

Next, I 'm going to make
the Jerusalem artichoke crisps.

OK, so they're ready to go?
They're ready to go.

So how do you know
the oil's hot enough?

Well, I would say, if you've
got a temperature probe,

check the temperature.
You want them about 180. OK.

But if you don't have a
temperature probe,

always make sure that
you check your oil

by just popping one of them in,

and then that will tell you.
OI L SIZZLES

And you want it to do exact that,
sizzle immediate?

Exactly, and it won't take long,

so you just kind of add them in
a handful at a time.

So you can see they cook
really quickly. Yeah.

And they're just golden brown.

Now it's time to start
to finish my risotto. OK.

So I 'm gonna add the soya cream in.
OK.

And then we're gonna use this
very special ingredient.

So yeast flakes. OK. So this
looks like quite a large tub,

but it's really versatile
and very useful.

It's a brilliant alternative
to Parmesan in a risotto. OK.

So I think you can be quite generous
when you add it in.

You are being generous!
Yes, I am being generous.

Well, I 'm a generous person, Matt.
OK.

And that's gonna give what to that?

It's gonna give it depth of flavour,
like...

Almost like that umami taste that
you get from Parmesan. Exactly.

That's exactly the flavour you
get from it. Umami. OK.

Now, in terms of consistency,
how would you finish a risotto?

You want your risotto to have
a kind of creamy finish.

You want, when you pull your
spoon through the risotto,

that it's trying to come back
together but doesn't quite make it.

OK. And then you know you've got
the perfect consistency.

But I have one more ingredient
that I asked you to buy, Matt.

Yes, l have. Look at this!

Ooh, that looks nice.
There you go, there's your kale.

I 'm actually gonna treat this
a little bit like a herb.

So I 'm gonna roughly chop it so,

and then add it in just
at the end here.

And a last little ladle of stock.

You can see it's got
nice and creamy now.

That's the non-dairy cream
that we've put in there.

And it's looking real good, Anna.

Well, let's hope it tastes
as good as it looks, Matt.

Is that ready to go?
That's ready to go. Great!

So when you're plating risotto,

if you just tap it on
the back of your hand,

it gives it a lovely flat edge.
Spreads it out. That's really nice.

OK, so a nice sprinkling of our
Jerusalem artichoke crisps on top,

and then we're just gonna finish it

with some simple little
rings of shallots. Nice.

I have to say, it looks real,
real good. Can we eat it now?

Yes, let's eat it!

This is real good.

It's real good. Yes, do a dance!
That makes me very happy.

Because it's real...
It's real cheesy!

I 'd think there was
Parmesan in there.

No. It's those yeast flakes.
I 'm not just saying that.

I didn't think it would have
that depth of flavour.

You're welcome, Matt.

I 'd be hard pressed to tell you
that that was vegan.

That is the ultimate compliment.

You're welcome.
SHE LAUGHS

Cheers. Cheers!

This is delicious. Thanks for
having me. You can come again.

If you'd like to try any of the
recipes from the series, go to...

We'd love to see you making these
at home,

so make sure to tag any pictures...