Hi guys,
For this week's vegan cookbook review, we're taking a trip to Chef Chloe Coscarelli's Vegan
Italian Kitchen!
Well, at least our tastebuds are.
I took one quick look at the table of contents and was pretty sure I would like this book.
Plus Ms. Coscarelli has a reputation for really well tested recipes that deliver on flavour.
The final push for me to get this book were the requests by vanillahugz, taro foodie,
and dempseykat who all requested this review 3 months ago.
Also, thanks to Abby Kuo who also requested this review recently.
This week, a friend of mine asked me to help her out with dinner so I saw this as the perfect
opportunity to make a few different dishes without feeling like I was over doing it for
just me and my boyfriend.
Two items I wanted to try both called for roasted butternut squash so I did them both
in one go.
On goes some salt and on goes some olive oil.
One thing about this book is that she does everything with full fat, salt and flavour.
Great if you're cooking for guests who you want to impress, especially omnivorous friends
and family who think you eat twigs and leaves.
So that goes in the oven.
Meanwhile, I started on the Artichoke Pesto Pasta Salad.
Unlike regular pesto, this one uses fresh italian parsley rather than basil.
In goes some walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and a can of artichoke hearts.
The instructions say to use a food processor but I just used my blender.
I think it did fine and the pesto sauce turned out so delicious.
I didn't think I was a big parsley fan before but this has turned me into a parsley lover.
The taste is so fresh and bright.
It's the perfect thing for a warm spring day.
Mixed with cooled, cooked little pasta shells, this is a satisfying meal unto itself.
The recipe says this makes 4 to 6 servings but I think this is more like six to eight
servings!
After the butternut squash was tender, I took it out to cool and started working on dessert.
I was surprised to see that the recipe for the cake part of the dessert didn't call for
any vegan milk.
Just water, apple cider vinegar, and oil for the wet ingredients.
I mixed that with the dry ingredients already mixed here.
That went into a cake pan and into the oven it went.
Easy peasy.
By the way, this recipe is on ChefChloe.com so you can make it too, even if you don't
have this book.
Now back to the savory dishes, I wanted to try a lasanga for sure but the Lasagna Bolognese
called for packaged seitan.
Something I never have hanging around.
And believe it or not, I'm a bit tired of seitan after testing so many batches of beefy
beefless seitan and the beet seitan as well.
So we're making White Lasagna with the roasted butternut squash and spinach.
In goes some white sauce.
It's a pretty simple cashew sauce with lemon and garlic.
Then our first layer of noodles.
Some tofu ricotta.
Our second layer of noodles.
Then a generous layer of white sauce and the sweet roasted butternut squash.
And noodles.
And oops, spinach was supposed to go on first.
That's better.
And noodles.
More sauce.
More tofu ricotta.
And our final layer of noodles.
And more sauce.
And that gets covered and baked.
By the time that was all done, the cake was ready and well cooled.
The tiramisu is supposed to be chilled overnight but we don't really have time for that today.
So I'm assembling it before our main dish is done and hoping that will be good enough.
I'm dividing this into two bowls, one bowl for me and my partner and one bowl for my
friend and hers.
In goes a mix of instant coffee, water, and whiskey.
The recipe actually calls for instant espresso and rum but I couldnt find instant espresso
at my local supermarket and I didn't have rum and didn't feel like making a trip to
the liquor store.
I do believe you can leave out the liquor if you like.
For the whipped topping, she uses coconut cream.
I like how this book uses mostly easy to get ingredients and doesn't rely on store bought
vegan dairy alternatives.
Some chocolate chips ground up in a blender, more cake, more coffee, and more whipped coconut
cream.
I didn't even wait a minute before trying this.
It tastes so amazing.
You need to try it.
You must.
And luckily this is another recipe that you can find on ChefChloe.com.
Now our lasagna is out of the oven so let's give it a try.
These layers held up beautifully and the noodles are perfectly cooked.
I love how the layers of bright vegetables stand out.
They say, you eat first with your eyes.
But how does it taste?
Pretty good.
I like it.
I would probably make it again if butternut squash was on sale.
But to be honest, The Veggie Nut has a Christmas Lasagna recipe video here on Youtube that
is easier to make with less steps and I actually prefer that.
I'll link that video in the description box below.
All these dishes are probably enough for a nice meal, but I wanted to try a couple more
dishes so I could give you guys a bit more from this book.
When I fliped to the Caprese Skewers recipe in this book I actually thought it was going
to be pretty plain.
How can tofu really stand in for fresh mozzarella?
Well, short answer is that this recipe won't really cut it if you're expecting the flavour
and feeling of caprese on a stick.
It does however, taste wonderful.
I lucked out and had super sweet cherry tomatoes which exploded with flavour against the warm
tofu and herbacous basil from my windowsill garden.
The next appy uses up the rest of the roasted butternut squash.
Here I've blended it with some caramelized onions and other seasonings.
The recipe called for sliced baguette and but this bread is really my french bread with
added flax meal in it.
Lately, I'm back to putting freshly ground flax seeds in everything for the omega 3 content.
This was a taste explosion.
The sweet caramelized onions and butternut squash combined with the sharp tang of balsamic
vinegar really hit the spot.
I will be doing this one again for sure, even with the need to caramelize onions for a half
hour.
And that's it.
Overall, I love this book.
I enjoyed all the recipes that I tried and I think they would really go over well with
anyone who enjoys Italian food that is full of flavour.
It definately uses more oil and nuts than I would for a regular everyday thing, but
I'd break out the book again if I'm cooking for friends or family, especially the omni
ones.
Have you tried any other recipes from Chef Chloe Coscarelli?
Let me know what you thought in the comments below.
I hope you are enjoying the weekly vegan cookbook reviews.
Also let me know if you have any requests for upcoming episodes.
Bye for now!