Holidays are tough for vegetarians and vegans especially when forced to spend them with non-veg families. I dated a vegan for several years and the holidays, specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner always seemed a let down for him. His family would try, but inevitably put milk and butter into everything, leaving him rolls and maybe green beans to eat. One year we visited my family for Christmas, and my mom offered several vegan things. But honestly, I think the presence of the great big golden crispy skinned turkey being pulled out of the over and placed on a the large platter just overshadowed anything vegan she made. It was clear that everyone was there for the turkey...not the wild rice and tofu side dish my mom put together. In the presence of a turkey, it's hard not to feel left out even when you are remembered.
I've never seen anything that measures up to the pomp and circumstance that is the turkey dinner until last week when I made this Pumpkin Stuffed with Vegetable Stew. So, for all of you trying to show your vegetarian/vegan sweetie how much you care, try this recipe this holiday season. If you don't have a meat-hating sweetie or friend, then take the stuffed pumpkin idea and put your favorite meat stew in it, or substitute some sauteed stew meat instead of seitan.
Not only is there great presentation, this recipe takes as long, if not longer, than cooking a turkey! Vegetarians and vegans can now skip on the turkey imposter and make something better than tofurkey. I spent about 8 hours, between shopping for the ingredients (2 hrs since you'll probably need to go to one or more stores), to making the Roasted Vegetable Wine Sauce (3 hrs), to making the actual stew (3 hrs). The original recipe lists the total time, without shopping, as 11 hours. I was able to do it in less time by making the wine sauce the night before.
I did have some fun shopping for this recipe. I used celeriac, also called celery root, for the first time. It's a really tasty root vegetable, a heavy smokey celery flavor. While waiting for the bus up to the farmers market, I met a woman who gave me a wine recommendation. I asked her if she had been waiting long for the bus. No, just about 5 minutes...plus the time it took her to go to the liquor store and buy a few bottles of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, her favorite wine that was on sale at the liquor store across the street from the bus stop. On my way back from the market, I stopped and bought two bottles for the stew. The recipe only needs only 1 cup in the stock sauce, but you need 2 bottles for yourself to keep your glass full through the 6+ hours of cooking. The wine was drinkable and the story was well worth the $11.99 per bottle.
So was the stew good? Yes it was! Especially when served with mashed potatoes. I was also able to make some Italian Wedding-like soup out of the roasted veggies used to make the wine sauce, making this a a 2 in 1 recipe. Would I make it again? I think it's a little too labor intensive and perhaps too many costly ingredients. By the time I was done, I think I spent over $50 on this meal. However, if I was trying to win over a vegetarian or vegan, this would be my
"go to" move.
I didn't make many changes to this recipe, and have copied and pasted it with a link to the originals on Epicurous. I did scatter a few comments/notes on things I did differently.
Source: Epicurious
Yield: Makes about 6 cups
Active time: 30 min
Total time: 4 hr
Ingredients
1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise
5 carrots, quartered
1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
2 red bell peppers, quartered
1 pound plum tomatoes, halved
1 fennel bulb, stalks discarded and bulb quartered
2 large onions, quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup boiling water
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (1 cup)
1 (4-inch) piece celery
4 parsley stems
1 large thyme sprig
8 black peppercorns
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1 cup dry red wine
4 quart water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil; 1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 stick unsalted butter (if Vegan, use a non-dairy spread)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Equipment: cheesecloth; kitchen string
Directions
Roast vegetables:
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
Wash leek halves and pat dry.
Toss leek, carrots, garlic, bell peppers, plum tomatoes, fennel, and onions with oil, then spread in a 17- by 14-inch roasting pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned and tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
Soak porcini and make bouquet garni while vegetables roast:
Pour boiling water over porcini in a bowl and soak until softened, 10 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, wrap celery, parsley stems, thyme sprig, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a piece of cheesecloth and tie with string.
Lift out porcini, squeezing excess liquid back into bowl, and rinse to remove any grit. Pour soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into another bowl.
Make stock:
Transfer roasted vegetables to a 6- to 8-quart pot and add wine to roasting pan, then deglaze pan by boiling, scraping up brown bits, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine to vegetables in pot along with water (4 quarts), porcini and soaking liquid, bouquet garni, sun-dried tomatoes, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until stock is reduced to about 6 cups, about 2 hours. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing firmly on and then discarding solids.
*CP Note: I didn't worry too much about getting all of the liquid out of the veggies and actually used 1-2 cups in making a soup base out of the left over veggies (see "To make an Italian Wedding like soup" below).
Make sauce:
Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add stock in a stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Note:
Stock can be made ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered, 1 week or frozen in an airtight container 1 month. Sauce can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat before using.
To make an Italian Wedding like soup (This is not veg-friendly - freeze the extras in case things don't work out with the veggie hottie.)
Boil up a pound of your favorite pasta. I had some Israeli cousous (a pearl size pasta bead) on hand. Slice up a pound of hot italian sausage and sautee until cooked.
Place the leftover roasted vegetables into a large stock pan. Be sure to remove the bouquet garni. Add about 4 cups of liquid (some of the stock you made pluse chicken stock). Using a submersible blender, blend the vegetables. Add more stock or water if you wish to have a thinner soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. I used about 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Heat up soup base... add your pasta and sausage. Enjoy.
Source: Epicurious
Yield: Makes 8 servings (main course)
Active time: 1 1/2 hr
Total time: 7 hr
Ingredients
1 fennel bulb with fronds
2 medium parsnips (1/2 pound total), peeled, quartered, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound celery root (sometimes called celeriac; 1/2 of 1 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
14 small shallots (about 1 pound), peeled and left whole, plus 1/2 cup chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 red bell peppers
1 (8- to 9-lb) pumpkin (preferably cheese, pie, or Sweet Meat variety)
Roasted-vegetable and wine sauce, heated
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (if vegan, use non-dairy spread)
1/2 pound fresh cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved
1/4 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed (CP Note: I did not use these b/c they are super expensive)
1 pound seitan (seasoned wheat gluten), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon chopped thyme, divided
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Directions
Roast root vegetables:
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Chop enough fennel fronds to measure 1 tablespoon and reserve, then discard stalks and remaining fronds. Halve bulb lengthwise, then core and cut lengthwise into 1-inch wedges.
Toss fennel wedges, parsnips, celery root, carrots, and whole shallots with 2 tablespoons oil, teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 17- by 12-inch shallow baking pan until coated, then roast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and almost tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove vegetables from oven. Leave oven on.
Prepare peppers and pumpkin while vegetables roast:
Roast peppers on racks of gas burners over high heat, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered, 5 to 8 minutes.
Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle. Peel peppers and discard stems and seeds. Cut peppers lengthwise into 1-inch strips.
Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle (6 inches in diameter) around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out and discard seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; do not discard top), then sprinkle flesh with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Put pumpkin in a large roasting pan.
Stuff and roast pumpkin:
Pour 1 1/2 cups sauce into pumpkin and cover with top, then brush all over with remaining tablespoon oil. Roast 1 hour.
While pumpkin roasts, heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté chopped shallots until softened. Add mushrooms and sauté until they are browned and begin to give off liquid, about 8 minutes. Add wheat gluten and 1/2 teaspoon thyme, then stir in 1 1/2 cups more sauce and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and fold in roasted root vegetables and peppers, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
After pumpkin has roasted 1 hour, spoon vegetable filling into it, then cover with top. Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with a fork, vegetables are tender, and filling is hot, about 30 minutes more. Transfer pumpkin to a platter using 2 sturdy metal spatulas.
Stir together fennel fronds, parsley, zest, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme and sprinkle half of it over filling. Stir remainder into remaining sauce and serve sauce on the side.
