Hello all of you still reading!
I would apologise for the pun but I shan’t and you can’t make me.
Anyway, I realised at the end of the last email I promised honey carrots without realising I basically did a similar thing in the first newsletter (yes I do read my own work, thank you); my general tip, as passed down to me by my father, is parboil (boil until almost cooked) almost any vegetable before you roast it. It may be more washing up but less time overall and it will guarantee that fluffy interior/crispy outside pairing. Suitable for carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes etc etc.
Obvs that’s not enough to fill a whole newsletter so I’ve decided this edition I want to talk about sandwiches.
I hate supermarket veggie sandwiches with a passion due to most varieties having that often winning combination of almost stale bread and cardboard neon fillings.
Ofc things may be different now (I’m sure there are probably some alright ones in the bougier sections) but it has meant I’ve spent a lot of time trying to be more creative (whilst keeping it relatively simple) and this is what I have managed to come up with.
Sundried Tomato and Spinach Cream Cheese Bagel
As you may know from my first food newsletter, I love sundried tomatoes - you can find my recipe for DIY ones here! However what turned me onto them in the first place was Brookyln Bake Bagels (which is sadly no longer open) but at the time served delicious bagels and was staffed by intimidatingly cool and very grumpy androgynous people.
My fave was the sundried tomato and spinach one they served so once they closed I decided to figure out how to make my own.
Buy any tub of cream cheese. I usually go for plain for simplicity, but you can get vegan ones from Violife etc to keep the recipe vegan (bagels are normally vegan btw!) I also recommend buying the bigger tubs for more usage. Take your cream cheese and place into a bigger tupperware.
Wilt your spinach. This can be done either in the microwave or in a frying pan on the hob but bear in mind it shrinks a lot. Set it aside to cool (if it is still warm when you put it in it will somewhat melt the cream cheese).
Season the plain cream cheese with salt, pepper and garlic and stir (I recommend powdered garlic in particular but finely diced/chopped is fine too.)
Cut up your sundried tomatoes with scissors directly into tub for less mess and stir through. (If you use the shop bought ones shake off excess oil before placing in there.)
Cut up the spinach directly into the tub once cooled and mix altogether.
Toast your bagel and spread your mixture on top. (yet again you may want to let cool slightly before you spread it but up to you).
Once you’re done cooking you can keep it in the fridge to use again !
Halloumi and Aioli Baguette
So this one admittedly also started as a bagel but I’ve paired it with a baguette to honour my favourite Spanish sandwich chain 100 Monteditos.
Aioli is essentially a fancy garlic mayo - of course you can buy it/garlic mayo at a lot of shops now but if you only have plain mayo you can make your own by simply adding any form of garlic you have to hand and a tiny bit of lemon juice. Stir through and set aside.
Toast the baguette and let it cool on the side.
Whilst toasting, cook your halloumi. I like to fry it until it’s soft, floppy and not too brown which doesn’t take too long at all but up to you on how firm you like it.
Spread aioli and add the halloumi.
You can obviously swap out halloumi for meat/vegan alternatives like bacon, vegan cheese, aubergine, spanish omelette (which is v nice) and I’m pretty sure I even had a potato and aioli combo once! If you’re really fancy you can batter and fry halloumi for a veggie take on the fish finger sandwich (deep frying is probably best but I have done it in a shallow pan before and that was also good. If you come up with any great additional toppings do let me know but I make this a lot when I’m feeling lazy.
Bonus: Saucy Sausage Rolls
This is technically not a sandwich but inspired by the haute cuisinery of Greggs itself, I made my own Katsu Veggie Roll.
You just need 3 ingredients - ready rolled puff pastry, veggie sausage of choice and sauce of choice. For this I used Quorn Best of British and Sainsbury’s own Katsu Curry sauce, but you can use sweet chilli, balsamic glaze, Nando’s Piri-Piri, tbh any jar sauce you like. Ideally it has to be quite viscous and flavourful but otherwise fine. (also you can replace the sausage with veggies as long as they are cooked most of the way beforehand and still pretty firm.
Preheat the oven to about 200C and unfurl the pastry. Ready made puff pastry comes with it’s own baking paper which can be handy but as you’ll be cutting it away you’ll need to line the baking tray separately.
Lay your sausage(s) out onto the unfurled pastry. Cut sufficient margins around each sausage, make sure to leave room on all sides to pinch this shut.
Spoon out a generous helping of sauce on top before folding over. Pinch the sides shut and score on top. If you have an egg to spare, you can glaze it if you’re feeling fancy.
As veggie sausages tend to be precooked in a way meat ones aren’t, you’re going by the colour of the pastry aka not charcoal. Take out when nicely puffed and golden brown.
Eat!
Finally, if in doubt, add a dressing.
This is probably obvious to almost everyone, but just like cheese, sandwiches are really about the pairings. Here are some sort-of sandwiches I enjoy and if you have any more suggestions do let me know.
Cheddar and Mango Chutney
Veggie Sausages and Honey and Mustard Dressing
Refried Beans and Peppers (leftover fajita filling on a bagel when you’ve run out of tortillas is surprisingly good, also refried beans as a spread should be more of a thing.)
Feta and Balsamic Fried Mushroom (best in a wrap)
Emmental and Pesto (if using basil based pesto, add sundried tomato for a bonus, although there are so many different kinds of pesto now so go wild)
Chips and Truffle Flavoured Olive Oil (yes I know I’m a class traitor)
Anyway I hope you found some of this useful.
Ciao for now,
Ruby