Meat Free Monday

World Vegetarian Day

We thought we'd have a Meat Free Monday in support of World Vegetarian Day on 1st October.  The day in fact 'kicks off' Vegetarian Awareness Month.

Many think that without meat on the plate, you lose texture and taste - not so.

Meat-Free Pizza

There are classic pizzas, such as the original Margherita, that don't have meat, but anything goes.

Just use your imagination to build healthy taste and texture. Cook the base once, with Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup on it and some heat from our Chilli Jam, bringing a little fire through the sweet ketchup.

When it is 2 or 3 minutes from crisp, crack an egg in the middle and return it to the oven to firm the egg up. Now garnish it with the vibrant green bitterness of rocket and perhaps watercress, balanced by the succulent sweetness of cherry tomatoes. Offset this with salty olives or capers (or both).

You have a hot pizza baste with tomato / chilli flavour, runny egg, cold sweet tomatoes, crisp peppery greens and salty olives - with a good spoonful of Stokes Real or our Garlic Mayonnaise on the side ... well, who says you cant have texture and taste without meat !

Mushroom Pasta

I know, boring you say, but have a go and you'll find the sauce anything but boring.

While the pasta is cooling to the packet instructions, soften a finely chopped shallot in half and half butter and oil. After 5 minutes, add 2 grated garlic cloves and about 400g of mushrooms, a handful at a time.

[TIP: Use an assortment of 'rooms - shiitake, oyster, field etc - to create a variety of textures when the dish is assembled.]

In a bowl, mix 125ml of mascarpone cheese, half a tsp of cayenne pepper, 2 or 3 tsp of Stokes Classic English Mustard and the juice of half a lemon. Stir this into the mushrooms after 5 minutes of cooking, together with a handful of chopped parsley and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Drain and add the cooked pasta to the mushrooms and serve.

Seasonal Vegetable Tagine

For the local, seasonal vegetables, clean, peel and roughly chop 1 onion, 3 carrots, 2 large potatoes, 1 sweet potato, 3 tomatoes, a handful of green beans and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic.

For the flavours of North Africa, use 1 tbsp of Harissa spice mix (readily available in supermarkets' cook's ingredients pots), 1 tsp of ground cumin, a pinch of turmeric, a few chopped apricots, 2 tbsp of runny honey, 2 tbsp of Stokes Spiced Apricot Chutney, 1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce and 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup.

You'll also need,750ml of vegetable stock, lemon juice (1 lemon) and a rinsed drained tin of chickpeas.

Now, using a large ovenproof pan with a lid, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil, soften the onion for 3 minutes, add the garlic for 2, then gradually add all (except the tomatoes) the vegetables and cook for 7 or 8 minutes.

Stir in your flavours of North Africa, combining them well through the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes more before adding the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock. Bring the stock quickly to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the flavours infused.

Uncover, season, simmer for a couple of minutes more then serve with rice or couscous.

Great Taste comes from Great Ingredients

Order your 'Great Ingredients' - HERE

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Cromer Crab - 
and other delicious produce from the abundant larder that is our land and sea. British Food at its best - here.







Our Classic Trio - 
we go back to our roots to share what, why and how it all started, 15 tasty years ago - here.

 





Are you missing out? - 
if you don't follow us on social media, you very might be ... find out more - here.

If good food makes you happy
...adding Stokes will make you smile ;)

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150