Stokes Sauces: Meat-Free Monday

Make Mondays Great Days

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Every time we open the paper it seems we're given yet more advice on how to 'eat healthy'.

Advice is a good thing but all to often this week's 'must eat' was last week's 'don't eat'.

The bottom line is common sense and balance.

Meat-free doesn't mean taste-free, on the contrary...

Meat-free Bolognese

Simply replace minced beef with Quorn Mince. Soften chopped onions, celery, fennel and grated carrots in oil.

Add the Quorn with 2 cloves of grated garlic, some Italian mixed herbs, sun dried tomato paste, lashings of Stokes Tomato Ketchup (or our Bloody Mary Ketchup), a glass of red wine, tin of tomatoes and water (fill the empty can with water and use that).

Add vegan stock granules and, as we are not using meat, just 15 to 20 minutes of gentle simmering is all it needs.

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

This simple, southern Italian baked aubergine dish is packed with the flavours of the Mediterranean. It's probably because our tomatoes come from the region, that our Award-Winning Ketchup feels so deliciously at home in the bake.

You'll need:

2 garlic cloves, grated
6 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 x 400 g tins of chopped tomatoes
4 aubergines, sliced into thin discs
85 g of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
plenty of freshly torn basil leaves
ditto oregano leaves
4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
1 beaten egg

Here's how:

Heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6. Cook the garlic, tomatoes and ketchup together in olive oil, simmering for 10 minutes to reduce the sauce.

In a separate pan with oil, cook the aubergine slices in batches for about 5 minutes on each side, then soak off the excess fat on kitchen paper.

In an ovenproof dish, make layers of aubergine discs first, topped with tomato sauce, a sprinkle of basil, oregano and Parmesan, repeating until the layers are complete. Pour the beaten egg over the top and a final scattering of cheese then bake for 20 minutes.

Molto bene !

Brie & Chilli Apple Tart

Hands up - I've never been confident with pastry, but really, trust me, this is easy. Once you have cracked this, there are all sorts of variations on the theme to play with.

You'll need:

1 sheet of ready made puff pastry
Sufficient brie (or similar) sliced to cover the base
1 sweet green eating apple, cored and sliced
1 tbsp of runny honey
2 tbsp of Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, roughly ground in a pestle and mortar.
Pomegranate seeds (optional)

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/cooking-sauces

Here's how:

Roll the pastry out on a piece of baking parchment. Make a border by folding half an inch in on all sides and prick holes with a fork on the pastry base within this border. In a bowl, coat the apple slices well in the honey and sweet chilli sauce.

Place the brie slices on the pastry and cover evenly with the sticky apple slices. Sprinkle the fennel seed over the apples and brush the pastry border with egg yolk. Now bake for 30 minutes in a hot oven. If your teeth can handle them, a scattering of pomegranate seeds adds a decorative finish.

Sweet Chilli Tofu

Here's how:

Cut firm tofu into cubes and soak them in a marinade of Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce, soy sauce, the juice of 1 orange (zest it first and keep the zest) and a little sesame oil.

Fry the tofu in sesame oil until brown on all sides and set aside. Floret a broccoli head and slice 1 or 2 red peppers then fry them on a high heat for 3 or 4 minutes to brown them.

Add 100 ml of white wine and 150 ml of water with the zest of your orange. Simmer for 7 or 8 minutes then add the browned tofu cubes and the marinade.

Use 1 tsp of cornflour diluted in a small glass of white wine, adding it to the sauce to thicken it, then serve with rice. Simple, healthy and above all - tasty.

Deliciously sweet,

with a chilli zing