[Music] Hi, I am chef Nico, welcome to
Italia Plant Based. Here we cook traditional Italian recipes
with a vegan spin. Today we'll show you how to make your own meat
at home.
In a large pot,
add water, vegetable bouillon, and some bay leaves. Bring to a
boil and let simmer on low heat for the whole time of this recipe.
Now, preheat the oven to 180C/360F and line a baking rack
with parchment paper. Now we are ready to make the meat.
In a blender add: tofu, garlic,
onion, soy sauce, oil, pepper, salt and water.
Blend on high speed until everything liquefies.
We use this liquid to give flavour to our vegan cutlets
so it's very important that all the ingredients are completely
mixed together. Now pour the liquid into a bowl
and add the wheat gluten aka vital wheat gluten.
If you've never used gluten before don't worry.
You'll get to know this wonderful ingredient as you get closer to
the vegan cooking world. Vital wheat gluten is simply
the natural protein extracted from wheat flour. It's been used in healthy diets for thousands of
years, and it's becoming more and more popular everywhere, thanks to the growing number of
people looking for meat alternatives. With a sturdy spatula
mix the wheat gluten with the liquid until you get a
ball. Transfer the ball onto a worktop and knead by hand for 5 minutes.
If the dough is too sticky add some more wheat gluten.
You should get a dough that is strong and elastic, and hard
to tear apart. Cut the dough into 8 pieces.
You'll notice that the consistency is very elastic, and when cooked will
be very similar to meat. Flatten the pieces on a worktop with the help
of a rolling pin. Dust with flour if the
dough is too sticky. For these fake meat cutlets you'll need
a thickness of about 0.5cm/0.2 inches. The dough is going to be very elastic,
so you might struggle to get it flat
when you roll it. My advice is to, 1) flatten
all cutlets one by one. 2) wait 5 minutes for the gluten to
relax, 3) flatten them a second time. It should be easier to do
once the gluten has relaxed a bit. This way
you'll get thinner and larger cutlets, that are perfect for a
vegan schnitzel.
Now place the cutlets on the baking rack that you prepped before, then
bake for 20 min at 180C/360F. After the 20 minutes have elapsed,
take out of the oven and put in the boiling broth.
Let simmer in the broth for 20 minutes. If the cutlets float up the
surface of the broth, push them gently towards the bottom, and occasionally turn them around
to make sure they cook evenly. Turn off the heat and let cool down
in the broth for about 1 hour. Then transfer them in a large container
or into several smaller containers and cover them with broth.
let them rest in the fridge for about 8 hours before cooking, and up to 7 days
And now, we are going to show you our favourite ways to cook
These vegan cutlets.
The first recipe that we made with it are a popular Italian dish:
Lemon Scaloppini. First of all, squeeze the lemon.
Then on a tray or on a large plate add the flour,
then take the cutlets out of the marinating broth, let drip
the broth away, and coat them in the flour on both sides.
Then in a non-stick pan warm up the oil, then add the
cutlets in and let cook on both sides
for about 1.5 minutes, or until they are golden. Season both sides
with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Now add the lemon juice to the
pan, then add a ladle of vegetable broth.
And now let's cook the second recipe! Mushroom Scaloppini!
Cook for another two minutes, turning the meat once or twice. Then when the
broth turns into a creamy sauce they are done. Serve immediately with some rosemary
and some grated lemon zest on top. They are going to be delicious!
Let's cook the second recipe. Vegan steaks in mushroom sauce. We start with the parsley, finely chop it and set aside.
The cut the mushrooms in thin slices, and set aside. Now add the flour to a large
plate, then take the meat out of their marinating broth
let the liquid drip, and coat the cutlets in the flour
on both sides. Warm up the oil in a non stick pan,
then add the garlic, then the mushrooms and let cook
on medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the mushroom water has evaporated.
Season well with salt and pepper. When they are done, set them aside
then in the same pan warm up the rest of the oil,
and when hot add the vegan cutlets. Let them cook on medium heat
for 1.5 minutes each side, or until they are golden. As usual
season both sides with salt and pepper. Now it's time to add the white wine
in the hot pan to deglaze. When the wine is completely
evaporated, add the pre-cooked mushrooms on top of the meat, and a ladle of
vegetable broth. Cook for another 2 minutes
turning the meat around a couple of times, and mixing it with the mushrooms and
the broth, to form a creamy sauce. Sprinkle with fresh parsley
and serve immediately with plenty of sauce, and freshly ground black pepper.
You'll love those mushroom scaloppini. Don't they look delicious?
But now let's move on to the final recipe, which in my opinion is the most indulgent of all.
A deep fried vegan schnitzel.
We start the recipe by breading the meat.
In a bowl, add the flour and the soy milk, mixing with a whisk, then add
the spices: rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Keep mixing
till everything comes together. On a tray, add the breadcrumbs,
then take the meat cutlets out of the marinating broth and tap them dry with
kitchen paper. Now dip them in the batter
till they are completely coated in it. Let drip excess batter,
then dip both sides of the cutlet in the breadcrumbs.
With clean fingers, tap down to make sure the breadcrumbs stick to the meat.
Add some extra breadcrumbs on top and keep tapping.
Then when they are fully coated, move the cutlets
onto an empty plate and let rest for another 5 to 10 minutes
before frying them. In the meantime cook the french fries
in the oven and warm up the frying oil up to a frying temperature of 180C or 356F.
Now fry the cutlets in the oil for about 2 minutes each, or until
golden and crips. Turn them around while frying so that they
get an even colour. Then take them out of the oil
and onto a clean plate covered with kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil.
Serve with a wedge of lemon, a sprinkle of sea salt, the french fries,
ketchup, mustard and here you go! Don't you just want to dig in? This one really came out perfect,
and crisp. It's really the perfect meal for a Friday evening, when you can't
eat hummus and baked veggies no more.