Sometimes our bodies, and minds, crave for veggies, and it’s healthy to let go of animal products. At least a few! (I will never give bacon up, even the fanciest most expensive courgette out there.)
This post is about a class challenge I did last semestre, I decided to make a vegan calzone, with portobello mushrooms and pumpkin sage sauce. Don’t poo poo the flowers, they actually taste like garlic! I’m still trying to find out the scientific name of the boogers. I also experimented on frying sage leaves in the microwave, an adapted process from Heston Blumenthal, esthetically beautiful and slightly crunchy.
If you ever have to make a vegan happy with a fancy entrée, this is the recipe. Be careful about making the dough, not all vegans are yeast friendly. This means also no wine or beer (yikes!).
So, this is what I did, without measurements as it was all experimental:
- Pizza dough without yeast, just plain flour, salt, olive oil and water. No need to rise, but advisable to rest, as the gluten does appreciate the relaxation.
- Sautéed portobello mushrooms, with olive oil, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
- Roast pumpkin with sage, olive oil, pepper and only a pinch of salt (careful with it, as the pumpkin tends to absorb the salt, and get very salty).
- Decorate the plating with the garlic flowers and pine nuts.
- The microwaveable fried sage leaves, although time consuming, a very interesting process to experiment! Here is a quick tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHF6ZHG2cYc
Mel's Vittles 