- Wow. - Looks delicious.
- [Carla] Goodness.
Rachel, How long did this take you to make?
- Happy Valentine's Day.
- Hi, I'm Rachel and I am still here at my parents' house
in good old Connecticut.
So since I'm here and I have nothing to do,
I thought I would do something special
for my parents for Valentine's day.
So normally on Valentine's Day,
we'll go out to eat at one of their favorite restaurants,
but obviously they don't feel safe doing that this year.
And they also aren't super comfortable
with the idea of ordering takeout.
So I figured I would recreate
their favorite three-course restaurant meal,
but it's also gonna be vegan.
So I'm gonna go talk to them
and find out which meal they'd be missing the most.
Hello, Mom and Daddo.
- Hi, Rach. - Hi, Rach.
- So why don't you tell me what your favorite restaurants
for a special fancy occasion?
I would say, what would you say?
- [Peter] Goodfellas in New Haven.
- Ooh.
So what's your favorite appetizer from Goodfellas?
- Oh, definitely the pane cotto.
- Is that how you say it?
I'm pronouncing it wrong.
So what's in that?
- Escarole and beans and cannellini beans cooked together
with garlic and a little Parmesan cheese and bread,
baked so it gets a little crunchy on the top.
It's delicious.
- What would you have for dinner?
- They have a very delicious scallops with a thin spaghetti
and a red pepper sauce, which is just out of this world.
- You know he's going all out
when he's ordering some seafood.
- That's a big deal
- It's a crazy day for Dad.
What would you have for dessert?
- I love cheesecake, and they have amaretto cheesecake.
- Ooh, you do love amaretto.
That's like the almondy flavor, right?
- Yes. - Okay.
- I love almond flavor in anything.
- Al-mand?
Merle makes fun of me because I got it from her!
Daddo, and you like this cheesecake too?
- [Peter] The cheesecake at Goodfellas
is just super delicious.
And there's a really rich, dark chocolate ganache on top.
I love it.
- Well, this is gonna be a challenge,
'cause I'm gonna make restaurant food.
And not only that, but make it vegan.
- You are amazing.
You can do it.
I wouldn't be able to do it, but you can do it.
- I have a lot of faith in you, Rachel.
I think he can do it.
- Thanks, Dad.
Okay, so the first thing I'm gonna get started on
is the amaretto cheesecake,
because this is gonna take the longest.
So I'm gonna first start on the crust.
I'm gonna add some graham crackers, some organic sugar,
and some coconut oil and pulse that together
until it reaches the consistency of wet sand.
First, I'm gonna spray my springform pan
with some cooking spray
and line it with a piece of parchment paper.
Now I'm gonna transfer my graham cracker mixture
into the bottom of my springform pan
using a measuring cup to help me press it down evenly.
Then I'm gonna bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
for eight to 10 minutes
and then take it out and let it cool.
Now to the food processor, I'm gonna add some cashews,
a can of full fat coconut milk, some amaretto,
some lemon juice, and a tablespoon of miso.
And then I'm gonna blend that up
for about two to three minutes until it's really smooth.
Next I'm gonna add in some organic sugar,
corn starch, which is gonna help the cheesecake firm up,
and some silken tofu.
If this doesn't all fit in your food processor,
then you can do it in two batches.
And then I just blended that up
for another two to three minutes
to make sure it's really smooth
and there's no grittiness from the cashews.
Next, I wrapped some aluminum foil
around the outside of my spring form pan
and placed it into a larger baking dish.
Now I'm gonna add one inch
of boiling water to create a water bath for my cheesecake.
Now I'm gonna bake my cheesecake for one hour.
(mellow jazz music)
So while that's chilling,
I'm gonna get started on my appetizer,
which is the pane cotto.
And so the first thing I'm going to do
is make some homemade vegan Parmesan cheese.
And I mean, if you really just want to go to the store
and buy yourself some vegan Parmesan, do that.
But this is really just for
if you have some extra time on your hands
'cause you haven't seen another person your age
in over two months, then this is for you.
So first I'm gonna add some cashews, macadamia nuts,
and nutritional yeast to a food processor
and just process that up until it reaches
a nice, fine crumble, like you can see here.
Now to a sauce pan over low heat,
I'm going to add some refined coconut oil
and my agar agar, which is an algae,
which is a good vegan substitute for gelatin.
And I'm gonna whisk that continuously
for about five minutes and then remove it from the heat.
Now I'm gonna add my oil mixture
back in with the cashews and then add some miso paste
for a little bit of a tangy flavor and some salt,
and then just pulse that until it comes together.
And now I'm gonna transfer this
into a small bowl or ramekin,
and then just stick it in the freezer
for about one to two hours until it firms up.
Okay, so now I'm gonna get started on
the pane cotto part of the recipe.
To a sauce pan over medium heat,
I'm gonna add some olive oil
and about three to four cloves of minced garlic.
And I'm just gonna saute that
for a couple minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
Then I'm gonna add in my escarole,
which I washed really well to just
get all of the dirt off of it.
And I'm just gonna let that cook down a little bit
so it's not taking up so much volume in the pan.
And then I'm gonna add in
my drained cannellini beans and some salt.
Throughout this whole recipe,
I'm just kind of winging it with the salt and the olive oil.
So you can use as much as you want,
depending on what your preferences are.
Then I stirred that altogether, added a splash of water,
covered it and let it cook down for a few minutes.
So now that the escarole has wilted down a little bit,
I'm gonna add in my cubed bread.
I used ciabatta bread which I toasted in the oven
for about 10 minutes.
But if you have any stale bread lying around,
this is the perfect recipe to use it in.
I'm gonna add another healthy drizzle of olive oil here,
a little bit more salt and some water
and just mix this all together.
I know my mom likes it a little bit more toasty,
so I'm gonna use a little bit less water
than they did in the restaurant recipe.
And now I'm just gonna cover this again
and let the bread soften up.
Now I'm gonna add some black pepper
and some red pepper flakes and stir this all together.
It looks like it's cooked down nicely
and now I'm just gonna transfer it into my baking dish.
So once my Parmesan finished chilling,
I took it out of its mold.
And you can even slice this Parmesan if you want,
which is really cool.
But I'm gonna take it and grate it over this pane cotto.
Now I'm gonna pop this in the fridge
until it's ready to bake.
Okay, so now I'm gonna start on the scallop pasta
with red pepper sauce.
For my scallops, I'm actually gonna
take a page out of Merle's book
and I'm gonna use king oyster mushrooms
to make the scallops.
So the recipe calls for four king oyster mushrooms,
but these are freaking enormous.
But that will be good, because the scallops will be
pretty big then, just like they are at Goodfellas.
So the first thing I'm gonna do is cut off
the tops of these mushrooms.
And then I'm gonna slice them into pieces
about an inch thick.
Now I'm gonna make a marinade for our mushroom scallops.
So I'm gonna add a half of a nori sheet,
torn up into little pieces,
some lemon juice and the zest of one lemon.
I'm just using a microplane here.
Some organic sugar, white mellow miso, salt,
some rice wine vinegar, and a neutral oil
like canola or grape seed oil.
And then I'm just gonna mix that all up and set it aside.
So to a medium pot, I'm gonna add some water, lemon juice,
the other half of my nori sheet torn up into pieces,
organic sugar, salt, and some low sodium soy sauce.
And then I'm just gonna bring that to a simmer
and just stir it to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved.
And then I'm gonna add in my mushrooms and cook them
for about four to six minutes or until they're soft.
And then I'm just gonna remove them with a slotted spoon
and transfer them right into my marinade,
and then pop them in the fridge for two to four hours.
So while those are marinating,
now I'm gonna get started on the chocolate ganache sauce.
So to a microwave safe bowl,
I'm going to add two cups of dark chocolate chunks
and a half a cup of canned coconut milk.
Make sure it's the full fat canned kind.
Then I'm gonna microwave this for two minutes,
stirring it halfway through
and you should have this great thick chocolatey consistency.
And now I'm just gonna add in
one tablespoon of my amaretto,
and stir this altogether and set it aside.
Okay, so I just took my cheesecake out of the fridge
and I removed the springform pan.
And now I'm going to just pour
my chocolate ganache sauce on top.
Ooh, this looks so good.
And now I'm just gonna use my spatula
to spread it out over the cheesecake.
And I wanna let it just drip down the edges
so it creates this pretty effect.
And they don't do this for the restaurant cheesecake,
but now I'm just gonna top it with some raspberries
for a final touch.
Oh my gosh, this cake looks so good,
and I can't wait to see how it tastes.
Okay, so my mushroom scallops have been marinating
for about two hours now.
I can't believe how many hours there are in this day.
It's miraculous, really.
So now I am going to take them out
and I'm just gonna pat them dry with my dish cloth.
And then I'm just gonna cut
little tiny cross hatches into them.
And this is just gonna help the heat
distribute more evenly when they're cooking.
So now to my skillet, I'm gonna add two tablespoons
of a neutral oil over a medium high heat.
And then I'm gonna just add in my little mushroom scallops.
And I'm just gonna let these sear
for about two to three minutes on each side
until they're golden brown.
And then I'm gonna add in about a tablespoon
of some vegan butter, and then just mix that around
so we get that nice buttery flavor
infused into the scallops.
And then when they're done,
I'll just remove them from the heat.
Now I'm gonna get started on my pasta sauce.
The first thing I need to do is roast a head of garlic.
So I'm just gonna cut the top off of my garlic head.
And then I'm gonna drizzle on some olive oil
and wrap it in some aluminum foil.
And now I'm just gonna roast this
at 400 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes.
And while it's roasting,
I'm gonna cook my pasta and set it aside for later.
And now I'm gonna start the next part of the sauce.
First, I'm gonna add some olive oil over a medium heat,
and then I'm gonna saute two shallots
and three cloves of garlic,
and saute that for a few minutes
until it's translucent and fragrant
and season it with a pinch of salt.
Now I'm gonna add my shallots and garlic mixture
to a blender, along with my roasted garlic,
some roasted red peppers, vegetable broth,
coconut milk, nutritional yeast, cornstarch,
a little bit of paprika, and some salt.
And then I'm just gonna blend that all up
until it's really smooth and transfer it into a sauce pan
over low to medium heat.
Now I'm gonna let this cook for about five to 10 minutes
until it warms through and the cornstarch
helps it thicken up.
And then I'm gonna add in my pasta.
Okay, this looks so good.
So now it's time to plate everything up
and serve it to my parents.
(romantic Italian music)
Okay, here's your first course.
- Wow. - Oh my goodness, Rachel.
Looks great.
Mm, wow.
- [Rachel] What do you think about the vegan Parmesan?
- I didn't even realize it was.
- Tastes like real Parmesan to me.
- [Carla] I would say that theirs is a little creamier
and yours is a little bit crispier,
but I like it crispier better.
- [Rachel] I knew it.
(Carla laughing)
The escarole's cooked, but it's not completely mushy.
I like it where it still has a little texture.
- [Rachel] A little al dente, as they say?
- A little al dente, yes.
Compared to the Goodfellas,
I would give this a seven or eight out of 10
- Compared to Goodfellas, I would give this an eight.
(mellow accordion music)
- Your next dish pairs well with a white wine.
The finest Kirkland brand.
- Happy Valentine's Day.
- Salud.
- It's time for the main course.
- Oh, look at that, Rachel.
- [Rachel] Roasted red pepper pasta with sea scallops.
- [Carla] Wow.
- [Rachel] Enjoy.
- That looks delicious. - Oh my goodness.
- Smells great.
- Yeah.
These aren't scallops.
They're not real scallops.
- [Rachel] No, Mom.
- They look like scallops.
- Oh my God.
- Wow, that's good.
- The texture is just like scallop.
- It is.
- All right. let me go for the pasta.
Definitely taste the roasted red pepper.
- [Rachel] If the restaurant version is a 10,
what would you give this one?
- A nine.
- [Rachel] Really?
- Yeah.
It's really, really good.
- [Rachel] Wow.
- Yeah, it's excellent.
- I actually like this better
because it has more roasted red pepper flavor
and also the scallops, they're more flavorful.
- [Rachel] Okay, it's time for dessert.
- All right.
Oh, it looks good, Rach.
- [Rachel] So this is your amaretto dairy-free cheesecake.
Enjoy.
- Definitely taste the amaretto.
- I'm in heaven.
This is chocolaty.
I'm gonna have a little raspberry on top there.
I love the crust.
Wow, this creamy filling is it,
tastes like some kind of cream.
- [Rachel] But it's vegan, so what do you think it is?
- An almond milk or cashew milk?
- Is it a nut paste?
- That's sweetened? (laughs)
- Compared to Goodfellas, I would rate this a nine.
- [Rachel] Wow!
- Yeah.
- Are you sure it's not just the wine talking?
- It's not the wine talking.
In fact, I might give it a 9 1/2.
- A seven because I like my cheesecake to be firmer.
- How was the service?
- Oh, the service was perfect.
- Excellent.
You're getting a big tip.
We'll have to leave you a nice tip.
- Aw.
Happy Valentine's Day.
- Happy Valentine's Day.
- Thank you.
(playful polka music)