Vegan Moussaka

Tom here,

This is a recipe from one of the rare times that I manage to persuade my housemates to cook vegan for an evening, and is actually gluten free as well, but sadly Jess wasn't there to appreciate it.

My family have a very obscure relative that none of us have ever met who has an apartment in Bulgaria, and for the last few summers they've been kind enough to let us go out there and use it. It's in the little seaside town of Ravda. Lots of amazing fresh fish and beaches and sun, I'd probably struggle to eat as a vegan now but at the time it was great. One of our favourite dishes was the moussaka at the nearest restaurant called cremi (spelled cvemi of you're ever in the area - near the luki apartments on the sea front, very nice and even better they have good service!)

Anyway hunger induced ramblings aside - here's my attempt at recreating this dish. I didn't use any lentils or meat substitute but these could be easily added and (green particularly I think) would make a nice addition.

Ingredients:

3 Aubergines
2 Courgettes
1 Pepper
1 1/2 cans Chopped Tomatoes
1 medium Red Onion
2 cloves Garlic
1 small glass Red Wine
1 tbsp fresh Thyme
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pack of Clearspring Firm Silken Tofu
120g Pine Nuts
1 clove Garlic
1 tbsp Arrowroot (or cornflour)
More Salt and Pepper

Method:

First off cut the aubergines into slices a centimetre thick, rub with salt and the place in a colander with a weight on top
Leave theme for a couple of hours (This is to remove the bitterness from the aubergines)
Halve the pepper and grill or bake until soft
Next slice the courgettes lengthways onto strips and place on a grill tray
Rub the aubergines slices with garlic and then coat thinly with flour
Place the aubergines next to the courgettes on a grill tray
Grill on either side until browned, then heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius
Now for the sauce, chop the red onion into slices and fry in a little oil until soft
Crush the garlic and add, and fry for another minute or so
Add the tomato paste, wine and thyme and reduce for a minute or two
Add the chopped tomatoes
Chop up the pepper finely and add
Stir through, season and simmer for 15-20 minutes
For the topping, toast and crush the pine nuts using a pestle and mortar
Blend the tofu, garlic, seasoning, flour and pine nuts together with a hand blender
Once everything is ready, start to assemble the moussaka in a baking tray
Place a layer of aubergines, then courgettes, then cover with the tomato sauce
Repeat until you run out of ingredients or you are an inch from the top of the tray
Cover with the tofu mixture
Bake until the tofu is set and golden around the edges, around 30-40 minutes
Serve and enjoy! We made some wedges and salad to go with it

Hope you enjoy the recipe, let us know any comments at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

Vegan Baked Tofu Bourbon Cheesecake

Tom today,

Before I went vegan cheesecakes were my speciality. My mum had a recipe for an oreo cookie cheesecake that once I tried I made for every family/friends dinner we had (or went too) for years. This is an attempt to relive that cheesecake using a recipe I originally made for a blueberry cheesecake. It is possibly marginally healthier than the original version, but definitely an indulgent treat. Therefore perfect for the festive season. I actually made this for christmas day at my parents house, and it went down a treat even with a new york lemon dairy cheesecake sat next to it.

Ingredients:

2 packs 200g Bourbon Creams
25g Soya Margarine
400g pack Silken Tofu
3/4 cup Soy Milk
1/2 cup Golden Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp Cornflour
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (seriously I can't get over what a great flavour this is. Normally my cheesecakes are lemon-based but this is too perfect)

Method:

For the Base -

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Put half of the bourbons (one pack) in a ziplock bag and bash/crush with a rolling pin (or empty bottle of wine) until finely crushed.
Melt the margarine in the microwave or in a pan
Add the crushed biscuits and mix thoroughly
Press into a springform tin (one you can remove the bottom from) with the back of a spoon, don't be afraid to really squash it down.
Prick the base with a fork gently and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes
In the meantime, blend the remaining ingredients together, except for the extra bourbons
When the base is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly
Arrange the bourbons on the base so that they fan out from the centre, this way when you cut a slice you get some cheesecake and some pieces of biscuits (this is technically optional but I'd recommend it)
Cover with the cheesecake mixture
Bake for 40 minutes until just set in the centre and browned around the edges
This shouldn't crack like a normal cheesecake and should be okay to take out of the oven now, but if you have time too then it doesn't hurt to leave it in to cool slowly
Serve with soy cream, delicious!

The only thing I would say about this recipe is you probably dont need 2 full packs of bourbons. I went a bit overkill on the extra middle ones. I realised this when I cut myself a slice either side of one of the lines, and discovered I couldn't eat any of it as tofu soaked bourbons bake into a substance that could be used to build houses. So yeah, go easy on the extra bourbons (maybe break them up a bit) and this should be a perfect recipe. If you can managed to make a second layer of biscuit in the centre I will be very impressed as I wasn't sure that would work with this recipe (it's what I would have done with the oreos).

Let us know how your cheesecakes go at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

With much holiday spirit still going, Tom x

You can see the wall of bourbons on the right, a tad OTT...