Playing with My Food

So yes, I’ve been playing with my food again.  I don’t expect to stop anytime soon.  The dish above [potatoes and zucchini stuffed with the star of today’s post and a  lemony cashew cheese] could be constructed in a far simpler way and be just as tasty but I wanted to express the inner child for a while.  I had a great time playing with my building blocks, heh.   I wonder how difficult it would be to create the Playskool jumbo jet…

Sundried Tomato and Basil Seitan

This seitan is very moist and wonderful as a ground meat substitute.   I personally do not like the commercial varieties available for they taste far too processed and artificial to me.  I wanted to create a seitan that not only tasted wonderful but that could be used as a meat substitute in many different Italian dishes when I wanted to use something other than lentils.    I have since  used it as a ravioli filling [pictured below] and in a pasta sauce as well as in some appetizers [pictured above].  It  freezes well so it can be stored  in allotments to be used in future recipes that call for a meaty textured filling. 

Ground Italian-style Seitan

Ravioli with Fresh Tomato and Basil Pesto

Crumbly Sundried Tomato and Basil Seitan

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup lentil bolognese sauce

1 large shallot

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 T sundried tomatoes, chopped [I used strips packed in oil]

zest of a lemon

Directions:

Sauté the shallot and garlic in a drizzle of olive oil until softened.    Add the lentil bolognese, basil, shallots and garlic, sundried tomatoes, olive oil and lemon zest to a food processor and pulse about a dozen times until well combined but not completely without texture.  Add the mixture to the vital wheat gluten in a bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.  Place the dough on a sheet of aluminum foil and roll into a log,  twisting the ends to seal it.  Steam in a steamer basket for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool.  Pulse in a food processor to yield a ground texture.