The Bane of the Vegan

or Stuffed Peppers.

The very sight of them as the veg*n option on the menu is enough to make any animal free eater give up and go home immediately. Representing all that is unimaginative and low effort in bulk catering, where exceptions to the norm are not welcomed and costs are cut to a minimum, Stuffed Peppers are the absolute pits.

Party organisers be aware, if your caterer cannot or will not cater well for vegans, you won't be getting much of a bargain for your other diners either, whereas any restaurant or hotel capable of cooking interesting vegan food to a price will be right up there with the best for all their culinary efforts. These things are important.



But wait, do these look as if they are stuffed with Batchelor's rice, they do not, and despite the tendency of stuffed peppers to be flavourless, these are not, and if this was the sort of food served to vegans at official functions and formal dinners would I complain? I would not. So how is it done?

Make a mash of about 500g cooked floury potato, 150g cooked celeriac and 350g cooked swede. You can cook them all together in a single pan, cut the celeriac into smaller pieces than the other vegetables as it takes a little longer to become soft.

Chop 150g onions and fry gently with a couple of teaspoons full of a mild curry powder, garam masala or your own favourite mix of toasted coriander, cumin and fennel seeds ground finely. Put in a good grind of black pepper and some finely grated fresh ginger, about a tablespoon after grating. Add about 100g of crushed nuts, I used brazil nuts but hazelnuts or cashews would be fine and if you have them a small handful of raisins or sultanas. Add a little chopped green chili to taste, this should not be a hot mix but just flavoured with scent of chilies. Add this cooked mixture into your mash and stir well.

Stuff your peppers. This amount of mash will stuff about 8 peppers or maybe 10 if they're small. If that's too many for your needs, bake the left over stuffing in a small well greased loaf tin. It can be served with the peppers or saved for lunch the next day. Put your stuffed peppers in an oiled tin, tightly packed to keep them upright and pop the lids back on. Bake for at least 45 minutes at 180C and for half an hour longer if you like your peppers to be well cooked.

To serve with the peppers you will need a sauce. Chop a medium onion with two or three cloves of garlic and put to sweat in a little oil. Add a tin of tomatoes, chopped or whole, a bayleaf or two and six or eight crushed cardamom pods. Allow all this to simmer gently for 20 or 30 minutes until everything is very soft, then hook out the bay leaves and cardamom pods before liquidising the sauce with a hand blender until smooth. Add a pinch of nutmeg and salt to taste and keep it warm until the peppers are ready.

Serve one or two peppers per person, extra stuffing if liked and cover with the tomato sauce, then add a big spoonful of soya yoghurt. Delicious.