6 EASY RECIPES FOR A VEGAN PARTY

HOW TO COOK DELICIOUS VEGGIES FOR YOUR VEGAN FRIENDS AND NOT

We all have a group chat of about 30 people – your closest friends, friends of friends, people you might have seen once etc. – that are used to plan parties: who, where, what, when, why? It was early Jan when the bf and I announced on the group chat “Late Night Cappuccini” that they were all invited to a house party on the 25th, to bring drinks and that we would have provided food. Margs replied “is it going to be vegan?”. I forgot that we were in full Veganuary. The idea of cooking only vegan was fun and challenging, so we decided to commit to a no meat party. I wanted the veggies to be the protagonist of the table, no tofu, seitan, meatless alternatives, just simple and delicious vegetables executed to perfection. It was the perfect occasion to show off my arsenal of simple Italian recipes that make the best of greens and happen to be vegan.

It’s Saturday the 25th, the vegan buffet is ready and the guests are arriving. As they walk in I reassure everyone of the veganity of the food, the response is “oh, ok. Why?” or “I am not doing Veganuary”. So far nobody seems bothered by the vegan dinner, at least Margs will appreciate the effort. Finally Margs arrives, I triumphantly tell her that the whole dinner is vegan and she says “oh, cool” with a question mark on her face and then proceeds towards the beer keg. I keep up with the conversation “You know this beer is not vegan, right?” – “Yes, I know” – “ So you are doing veganuary and still drinking beer?” (I sound a bit astonished) – “I am not doing veganuary” – “You are not doing veganuary?! But on the group chat you asked if the food was vegan?” – “Ohhhh, I was joking. I was making fun of people doing Veganuary” – “We prepared a whole vegan buffet for you and other potential Veganuarists of the group and you are telling that no one here is vegan?! “ At this point we all burst into laughter at the absurdity of the situation and start digging into the food. Anyways, the dinner went down a treat, the pappa al pomodoro was a real hit and the cauliflower the star of the night. I promised the Cappuccini to share these delicious, easy recipes on the blog and here they are. 

Don’t wait until Veganuary 2021 to try them out! 

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The menu of our vegan feast:

• Farinata – chickpeas flour pancake / frittata
• Pappa al pomodoro – bread soup in a rich tomato sauce
• Spiced cauliflower head
• Roasted peppers with capers and breadcrumbs 
• Marinated zucchini salad, mint (not in picture)
• Castagnaccio – a chestnut flour cake, raisins, pine nuts and rosemary

FARINATA 

INGREDIENTS 

• 200 gr chickpea flour
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 450 gr lukewarm water 
• 1 tablespoon salt
• pepper

METHOD

1. Whisk together flour, salt, 2 tablespoons of oil and water until you get a smooth batter. Let it rest for at least 1 hr up to 12 hrs. 
2. Stir every 2 hrs and remove the foam that forms on top. 
3. Preheat the oven at 250 degrees celsius. Place a shallow baking pan in the oven. 
4. Remove the pan carefully from the oven and pour in the oil.  
5. Whisk thoroughly the batter one last time and pour the mixture in the pan and back in the oven. The thickness of the batter in the pan should be no more than 1 cm.
6. Put the pan back in the oven and cook for 20 mins until golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with pepper and serve hot. 

PAPPA AL POMODORO 

INGREDIENTS 4/6 PEOPLE

• 1 country loaf – 400/500 gr 
• 500 gr vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and more for dressing
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• ½ onion
• 800gr of canned peeled tomatoes, preferably san marzano 
• 1 tablespoon tomato concentrate
• Fresh basil 
• Salt 
• Black pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius. Tear the bread in big chunks, about 3-4 cm length. 
2. Place the bread on a baking tray in the oven for 10/15 mins until golden and dry. Remove from the oven set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the peeled garlic and the chilli flakes. Let the garlic go until nice and golden, about 5 mins. Remove the garlic. Add the small diced onion and let it simmer until translucent, about 10 mins.
4. Add the peeled tomatoes with the juice, break them down with the back of a wood spoon and add the tomato paste. Stir and add 2 sprigs of basil leaves. Let it cook on a low heat for 15 mins.
5. Season the tomato sauce with salt and black pepper to taste, remove the basil sprigs and add the bread cubes. Stir well and slowly start adding the broth. Keep stirring and mashing the bread, adding broth little by little. You want a texture like polenta or oatmeal with some bigger chunks of bread. 
6. Let sit for 5 mins, adjust seasoning and serve with a swirl of olive oil and fresh basil leaves.

SPICED CAULIFLOWER HEAD & TAHINI SAUCE 

INGREDIENTS: 4 PEOPLE

For the cauliflower

• 1 medium whole cauliflower with leaves
• 1 teaspoons of turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon of sumac
• ½ teaspoon of asafoetida
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½  teaspoon black pepper
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1 ½ cup warm water

For the tahini sauce, we followed an amazing recipe from COOKIE + Kate

• 4 medium-to-large cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup tahini
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Pinch of ground cumin
• 6 tablespoons ice water, more as needed

METHOD

For the cauliflower

1. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees celsius. 
2. Wash off any dirt from the cauliflower, don’t remove the leaves.
3. Mix together oil, salt, turmeric, cumin, sumac, asafoetida, black pepper.
4. Stab the cauliflower to the core in between the rosettes in various points, this will help the cauliflower to cook evenly and to absorb the seasoning. Score the base of the cauliflower deeply.
5. Rub the spiced oil on every inch of the cauliflower, top and bottom. 
6. Place the cauliflower in a deep medium size roasting pan and pour in 1 inch of warm water. Put the pan in the oven for 40 mins, cover halfway through with foil to prevent burning. 
7. Remove from the oven and baste the cauliflower head with the juice at the bottom of the pan. Cook for another 10 mins, check with a knife if the cauliflower is cooked through.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool down for 10 mins before serving with the tahiti sauce.

For the tahini sauce

1. Mince the garlic and then let it infuse in the lemon juice for 10 mins. 
2. After 10 mins strain the mixture through a fine mesh, press the garlic to extract as much liquid as possible and then discard the garlic.
3. Add tahini, cumin and salt to the infused lemon juice and whisk until smooth.
4. Add a couple of tablespoons of water at a time until you reach the desired consistency. We used 8-9 tablespoons of water for a quite loose dressing. 

ROASTED PEPPERS WITH CAPERS AND BREADCRUMB

INGREDIENTS: 4 PEOPLE

• 2 red peppers – 500 gr circa
• 2 yellow peppers – 500 gr circa
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup capers
• 12 basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius.
2. Wash and remove the seeds from the peppers  then cut them in 1cm width slices.
3. Mince the garlic and add it to the oil and the salt.
4. Move the sliced peppers into a baking tray and tossed them with garlic oil. 
5. Cook for 30 mins.
6. Remove the pan from the oven, add breadcrumbs, basil and capers to the peppers and mix thoroughly. Put the baking tray baking in the oven under the broil  for 5 mins until a nice golden crust forms on the peppers.
7. Remove from the oven and serve. 

ZUCCHINI SALAD 

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium zucchini
• 10 mint leaves
• 1 garlic cloves
• ½ lemon juice
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  ½ black pepper

METHOD

1. Rinse the zucchini and cut them lengthwise in 2 mm slices or alternatively use a spiralizer on the widest blade. 
2. In a bowl mix the oil with salt, black pepper, lemon juice, mince garlic clove and chopped mint. 
3. Dress the zucchini slice with the oil mixture and let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge. 
4. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

CASTAGNACCIO 

INGREDIENTS

• 250 gr chestnut flour
• 350 gr water
• 50 gr pine nuts
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 50 gr raisins
• 3 tablespoons of oil + more 
• 1 tablespoon honey (I used golden syrup to make it vegan)
• ½ teaspoon of salt

METHOD

1. Mix the flour and the water until smooth. It should be quite a loose batter. Let it sit for an hour in the fridge,
2. Soak the raisins for 15 mins in lukewarm water, then strain and squeeze out any excess water.
3. Remove the rosemary needles and soak them in lukewarm water for 15 mins. Strain and  squeeze out any excess water.
4. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius.
5. Add the honey, salt and 2 tablespoons of oil to the batter.
6. Oil a baking pan with the rest of the oil.
7. Pour the batter into the pan and decorate the top evenly with raisins, pine nuts and rosemary.
8. Cook for 30-35 mins until you see the characteristics cracks across the surface.
9. Remove from the oven, cut in squares and serve.