Recipe: The full vegan English breakfast
I’ve made an art form of the vegan full breakfast. This will help you heal from last night’s antics and fuel you for today’s mischief
TOFU SCRAMBLED EGGS
Ingredients
• 2 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
• 225g extra-firm tofu
• 1⁄2 tsp garlic powder
• 1⁄2 tsp chilli flakes or to taste
• 1⁄4 tsp smoked paprika
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and broccoli and gently fry over medium- low heat for 2–3 minutes, until they are cooked but still have a little crunch in them.
2. Grab the tofu and either scramble it with a fork or cut into bite-sized pieces. Add
it to the pan and stir well. Now add the salt, spices and a splash of water if it looks too thick or dry. Cook for two minutes, until the tofu is heated through.
SMOKEY BAKED BEANS
Ingredients
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 500g passata
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 400g can haricot beans
• Salt and pepper
1. Heat a little oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until soft.
2. Add the tomato purée, passata, vinegar, paprika, bay leaf and sugar to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Bring up to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the haricot beans and cook for a further 10 minutes, until thickened.
4. Optional: whizz up a quarter of the beans in a blender until smooth, then return to the pan and stir through before serving.
SMASHED POTATO CAKES
Ingredients
• 12 small new potatoes
• Olive oil
• 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked, to taste • Salt and pepper
1. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins in plenty of salted water for about 10–12 minutes until just tender. Drain well. (This can be done in advance as they can be cooked from cold later. Keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to use them.)
2. Preheat the oven to 200 ̊C (Gas Mark 6). Line a roasting tray with baking paper, brush it liberally with olive oil and scatter over some salt.
3. Evenly space the potatoes, then press each down so it flattens but stays in one piece. I use the at side of my cleaver, but you could use the bottom of a mug, a potato masher or the at of your hand (if cooking from cold). Brush the flattened spuds with plenty of oil and season with salt.
4. Roast for 25 minutes, then remove the tray from the oven and scatter over some fresh thyme leaves and grind over some black pepper. Return the tray to the oven for a nal 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden and crisp. Serve immediately.
GARLIC MUSHROOMS
Ingredients
• Olive oil, for greasing
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• lemon juice, to taste
• 4 Portobello mushrooms• Salt and pepper1. Preheat the oven to 200 ̊C (Gas Mark 6). Grease a roasting tray with oil.2. Mix the garlic, vegan spread and a good squeeze of lemon juice in a bowl.3. Arrange the mushrooms with their stalk sides facing up in a roasting tray and smear the mixture into the gills. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Roast the mushrooms in the oven for 20 minutes, until cooked through.
ENGLISH BREAKFAST SAUSAGES
Makes two 350g sausages
Ingredients
• 230g vital wheat gluten
• 30g nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tbsps plain our
• 1⁄2 tbsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Good pinch of white pepper
• Good pinch of nutmeg
• Good pinch of allspice
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1t sp salt
• 320ml mushroom stock (steep a handful of dried porcini mushrooms in 350ml boiling water, cool, then strain and use the liquid as stock)
• 2 tbsps cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsps olive oil1. When fried, seitan has a similar texture to meat – think kebabs, paella and sausages in your full breakfast. With this recipe, you can make two large 350g sausages that can be sliced, fried. They will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for four or five days – or the freezer for up to three months.
2. When ready to cook, simply slice up the sausage and fry in a little oil over medium- high heat for 3 minutes on each side, until coloured and crispy at the edges.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together
in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and knead together, as if making bread, for five minutes, until you have a rm dough.
4. Divide the mixture into two and roll each portion into a rough log. Lay out a sheet of cling lm and place one log in the centre. Roll the cling lm around the log, push out any trapped air and twist the ends of the cling lm together around the log to tighten it into a large sausage shape. This is best done by holding the cling lm ends and rolling the log until the cling lm is drum-skin tight. Now wrap it neatly in kitchen foil. Repeat with the other half.
5. Place the wrapped sausages in a large saucepan of water and bring it up to a low simmer. Poach the sausages gently over low heat for 1 hour, topping up the water if necessary, until they feel very firm.
6. Remove the logs from the water, leave to cool, then pop in the fridge to chill overnight. Don’t unwrap until then, or they’ll expand and lose their shape.
