Here’s another cookbook that I’ve had for a long time, and hadn’t really tried yet, Vegan Fire & Spice by Robin Robertson. I made the falafel last week and it was pretty tasty (though I ended up baking them instead of pan frying, they held better that way). So I picked out two more recipes to test, and this was the first of those. So far I really like the book. The recipes have a lot of flavor without being really fussy. This may sound like it was complicated, with rolling out scratch dough and everything but really, it wasn’t. You put all the dough ingredients in the food processor, knead slightly and roll out. The filling is just everything else combined in a bowl. You don’t need even need to chop or cut anything! Though I did cut the sausages into thirds before throwing them in the food processor to “crumble” them the easy way.
My adjustments: I used 1 package of Tofurky for the pound of vegan sausage, and 2 packages of firm tofu (lightly squeezed with my hands) for the 2 pounds of tofu. I was a little worried since the recipe called for a 10″ pie plate (though my standard one said 9.5″) but had no problem getting everything to fit. I used white whole wheat flour for the crust, and ended up using almost 2/3 c. of cold water to get it to a dough consistency. (The recipe calls for unbleached all-purpose, and has you start with a 1/4 c. of water.) Also, I could have sworn that I had fennel seeds, but it turned out to be anise seeds, so I used them instead. oh! I also added a little more salt and 1/4 c. of nutritional yeast after mixing and tasting. A little gloss of almond milk/agave over the top would have been a nice touch, but I just thought of it! ; ) To round it out, I served it with a side of lightly steamed kale.
Results: Yum! Thomas ate 3 servings (pieces). 3!! Hah! ; ) Definitely a keeper.
