Delicious Winter Noodles-Vegetable-Minced-Meat Gratin for the Great Hunger


Hello Guys,

two weeks ago I tried something new, which ended in a new recipe. Therefore, here is my first official recipe with meat. Actually, I usually cook vegan and vegetarian, but this time I made an exception. It was in any case sooo delicious, which is why I share it with you today.

Noodles-Vegetable-Minced-Meat Gratin (4 big portions)

Preparation time: around 1 hour ; Baking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 200g of mushroom
  • 3 carrots
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 butternut squash
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 big onion
  • Olive oil
  • 3 tbsp of tomato paste
  • 400ml of tomato sauce/tomato purée
  • 40g of mozzarella
  • 400g of organic minced meat
  • Salt, pepper, oregano, hot pepper powder
  • 300g of chickpea noodles
  • 100g of spelt tagliatelle

First, you need to wash all the vegetables (zucchini, carrots, butternut squash). Then cut the carrots and zucchini into thin slices. Halve the pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut it into small squares. Now clean the mushrooms and cut them into slices. Gather all the vegetables in a bowl.

Peel the onion and cut it into small pieces. Peel the garlic, chop it very finely and crush it with the blade of a knife. Add olive oil (about 3 tbsp) with the onion to a pan. Do not add the garlic yet! When the onion is transparent, add the vegetables. Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes while stirring.

While the vegetables are simmering, put the pasta in a pot with enough salted water (both types of pasta together) and cook them for between 6 and 8 minutes. When the pasta is al dente, drain the water and put them in a large baking dish.

When most of the vegetables are cooked through (the squash and carrots will still be a little tough), add the ground beef and stir until browned and crumbly. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and spices. Now add the tomato purée and cook everything again for about 5 minutes. In total, from the onion until it is cooked, it takes about 20 minutes.

While the vegetable and minced meat mixture is still cooking in the pan, you can already cut the mozzarella into thin slices. Add the mixture to the pasta in the baking dish and mix everything. Spread the mozzarella on top and bake the gratin at 200°C with top and bottom heat on the middle shelf for about 25 minutes.

Serve with basil and enjoy.

I found it really delicious. Through the vegetable noodles, it is not quite so unhealthy, the mixture with the tagliatelle makes it not too healthy. 😉 Takes a bit in preparation, but is not difficult and is enough for four people. And we always eat a lot. 😉 Have fun trying it out, hope you like it as much as we do.

Love, Eileen

Coconut Champignon Sauce II – with Pasta (Vegan)

Hello Guys,

you might already have seen the recipe for my Coconut Mushroom Sauce, which I created in October this year. Well, I made it again tonight, but with some changes. As I loved it, I thought I have to share this with you. The recipe is basically the same, I just added some more ingredients. It really is worth a try.

Coconut Mushroom Sauce with Pasta (2 big portions)

Ingredients

  • 400g of mushroom
  • 2 tbsp of coconut milk
  • 1 carrot
  • 1/2 parsnip
  • Vegan parmesan
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 and a half big onions
  • Olive oil
  • around 200ml of broth
  • 1 handful of fresh parsley
  • Salt, pepper, and nutmeg
  • 300g of tagliatelle (I used spelt noodles)

First, wash the parsnip, carrot, and mushroom. Then cut the mushroom into slides, before you cut the carrot and parsnip into small sticks. Now cut the onion and the garlic into small pieces and put it with olive oil into a pan. I always cut the garlic into small pieces, then crush them with a knife so that the taste is stronger.

When the onion and the garlic are transparent, add the carrot and parsnip. Shortly afterwards (1 – 2 minutes) you can add the mushroom and cook everything until the vegetables are tender. Then add the broth, the coconut milk, and the spices. While the sauce is still cooking, cut the parsley and add it to the sauce.

Put salted water in a pot and put it on the stove. When the water is cooking, put the noodles in it. Cook them until they are al dente (time is written on the packaging).

Serve the noodles with the sauce and parmesan. If you do not find vegan parmesan you can eat the meal without it, it is still delicious. 🙂 Of course, if you are not a vegan, just use normal parmesan or Grana Padano.

Please leave a comment if you liked the recipe or if you have any additional ideas or any remarks. Bon appetit!

Love, Eileen

Homemade Curry (Vegan)

Hello Guys,

as I had some time last week, I cooked one of my most favorite recipes. I call it a curry, but as I have created the recipe on my own and as I never have cooked a real curry, I can not say if it is one. But at least I can say that it is very tasty.

Homemade Curry (4 big portions)

Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 250 g of rice (Basmati or Jasmine)
  • 500 g of mushrooms
  • 200 g of coconut milk
  • 220 g of chickpeas
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 paprika
  • 3 carrots
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 chili
  • 1 ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 onions
  • 2 spring onions
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, pepper, turmeric, herbs of Provence, curry, hot paprika

Heat salted water, then cook the rice for around 10 minutes. While the rice is cooking, start preparing the vegetables by cutting the carrots, the zucchini, and the paprika into pieces. I always put the vegetables in the same bowl where I will put the rest of the food after eating to save dishes (student life without a dishwasher ;)).

Cut the onions, spring onions, and the chili into small pieces. Pay attention that you only cut the white part of the spring onions, while you keep the green part for later. Put some olive oil into a pan, add the onions, and shortly afterwards the chili. When the onions are transparent, add the vegetables you already prepared.

While the vegetables cook, wash the mushrooms and cut them into slides. Add them to the pan. Then cut the tomatoes, the green of the spring onions, the garlic, and the ginger. When the vegetables are well done, add the garlic, the ginger, the chickpeas, the tomatoes, the green of the spring onions, and the coconut milk. I use a lot of spices such as turmeric, curry, and paprika, which gives the meal a slightly spicy taste. The rest of the spices round the dish perfectly off. Just let everything cook for some minutes, then you can serve it with the rice.

The recipe does take an hour for preparation, but the result is a healthy and tasty meal that lasts several days.

Please leave a comment if you liked the recipe, or if you have any additional ideas or any remarks. Bon appetit!

Love, Eileen