I am not a vegetarian, I am an omnivore and I frequently cook meals without meat. I feel deeply that any cook or chef worth their salt should be able to whip up a fabulous meal no matter what the restrictions of diet or allergy. But I am frustrated. I have several vegetarian cookbooks in my library and even had a subscription to a certain vegetarian magazine for a few years and it is that magazine that has set me off. I stopped the subscription when we left New York and with two moves under our belt in the last year and a half, I have just never gotten back to it. So at the end of December, I was poking around Copperfields when I decided to pick up a copy of vegetarian magazine X. Then it happened. I went home and curled up in our big comfy Morris Chair and began to peruse the pages until I came upon a recipe for a tamale pie.
I don’t normally bring my rants to this space, (I am actually a bit of a ranter, just start me on the topic of George Lucas and the later Star Wars films and stand back), but this time I have had enough. I love tamales, I love pie, I even like tamale pie but if I see one more recipe for tamale pie I am going to stage some sort of public protest. All of my vegetarian cookbooks except for one and 40% of the back issues I have of a certain magazine X contain recipes for tamale pie and it is officially boring.
Now, I don’t want to bag on all vegetarian cooks and chefs. Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks makes beautiful, exciting food that keeps me interested and I want to be sure that she and others with that kind of creativity know I appreciate what they bring to the table. What I am talking about is the outdated and boring way of looking at vegetarian food that is still all too prevalent.Where boring unfulfilling casseroles reign, and if I’m going to be totally honest, where poorly written recipes and underdeveloped flavors, are a big part of the problem.
Where does the passionate epicure* fit into that scene? Who besides a select few like Swanson are attempting to fill that gaping chasm on the vegetarian food scene? Food is about love, friends, family, beautiful flavors, health, exploration and innumerable recipes for tamale pie and minestrone just don’t fill the need. A recipe for shredded wheat gluten** bathed to a sauce that tastes like ketchup, an excessive amount of cider vinegar and served on a bun is not beautifully cooked, nor is it in possession of balanced flavors. These things are unsatisfying and in my opinion, do not bring beauty to my table.
The reason for my soapbox this week is that I have decided to commit myself to bringing you vegetarian recipes the way I think they should be made at least once a month from now on. I swear that I will never, ever even out of desperation, bring you a recipe for tamale pie. I will however kick off my vegetarian culinary exploration with my recipe for Semolina Gnocchi with Spinach, because it is awesome.
I have posted a recipe for semolina gnocchi before that contained roasted red peppers. It is a different take on the traditional Roman dish of semolina gnocchi that I had in Rome two years ago. With this iteration I have taken it out of the baking dish to make a much more glamorous dish. It can be made into a canape for an appetizer, increased in size for a main course or if you wish, layered in a baking dish as is traditional with semolina gnocchi. I topped it with sauteed cannelini beans and spinach to add protein and a veggie for a more complete meal.
Are you an omnivore who enjoys a nice vegetarian meal now and then? A vegetarian looking for new recipes? Are you possibly sick of tamale pie? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Semolina Gnocchi with Spinach
4 1/4 cups Vegetable Stock
1 1/2 cups Semolina
1/4 cup Olive Oil
3 Egg Yolks
2 Garlic Cloves
1 cup Parmesan, grated
2 cups Fresh Spinach
Sea Salt, to taste
Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
Place your, olive oil, garlic and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
In a large pot bring your stock to a rolling boil and very slowly pour in the semolina whisking until smooth. Remove from the heat and pour in the egg mixture, incorporating well before adding the sea salt, pepper, parmesan and spinach. Spread the mixture out on a large baking sheet (or two depending on the size) about a 1/2 an inch thick and allow to set in the fridge.
Using a biscuit cutter, cut out your gnocchi and saute them in plenty of olive oil over medium high heat until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.
To cook them the traditional way: Preheat your oven to 375F and grease your baking pan (or pans) with olive oil.
Using a biscuit cutter cut out your gnocchi and lay them in your pan overlapping them a bit (the Roman recipe describes this as a terraced hillock). Top your gnocchi with a good dusting of cheese and place it in the oven until nice and brown about 45 minutes to an hour.
To top:
Olive oil
2-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 cups Cooked Cannelini Beans
6-8 cups Fresh Baby Spinach (chard or even kale would be great as well)
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Dry White Wine
Parmesan
In separate pans heat a bit of olive oil. Saute the cannelini beans with some garlic until slightly golden and the spinach with more garlic until wilted deglaze with a bit of white wine. Use to top the gnocchi. Dust with grated parmesan.
Serves 6-8 as a first course.
Note: If you are like us and this is just for two, saute up a few each for the first night and then layer the rest into two pans, one to bake off the next night in the traditional way and one to freeze for a later date. You’ll thank yourself later.
*No doubt many of you know that I cannot stand the word foodie and I have finally found something to replace it; passionate epicure. I’d like to take credit, but I heard it while interviewing Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein the other day for the March/April issue of Mutineer Magazine.
**I have nothing against seitian, I’ve just seen and tasted way too many terrible recipes containing it. Also, I really can’t imagine that eating all of that wheat gluten is very good for you.
I also want to give a shout out to my friend Suresh who recently started his blog: http://thestylishveg.blogspot.com/
Yay! I am an omnivore, but love vegetarian dishes. For many years I only ate seafood and veg, no red or other white meats. In fact I more often than not ate vegetarian bordering on vegan.
I hate the way that the token vegetarian option on a menu is generally a curry dish. Bleugh! I like curry, but in very particular ways. I detest the samosas and other pastry wrapped offerings that usually find their way onto the menu.
Vegetarian food can be luscious, complex and utterly divine. It just takes a bit of thought and imagination. Heidi does that very well, and this dish is up there also. Congratulations for confronting the trend for boring vegetarian options!!
Debbie, Here the token vegetarian dish is usually a sandwich or some kind of pasta and they are only seasoned properly about half the time. I like sandwiches and pasta, but vegetarian cuisine has the power to be so diverse it is maddening to get the same boring options time and again.
Here is a link to a site I really love: http://www.fatfreevegan.com/ . The writer is very creative and provides recipes for some very satisfying food. I did not expect that from a site called Fat Free Vegan.
I had the incredible honor to get a seat at Beaker & Flask back in December and had one of the most amazing vegetarian dishes ever… and so simple.
It was a blend of wild mushrooms stuffed into Napa cabbage leaves and it resembled one of those sweet and sour cabbage rolls of my Euro-Yid youth, only one hell of a lot better. Mushrooms were not quite duxelles, but fine mince and braised in gorgeous broth, tender and flavorful. Yes, there was foie gras on the table with other plates aplenty, but this dish stood out among all of them. Simple, very well executed, satisfying and beautiful.
Hmm–a few thoughts all in a row here..
1. When I make “vegetable stock” it always tastes like “water vegetables were rinsed with”, and then I cheat and add bullion. Am I just not letting it simmer down long enough? Maybe it needs.. endive!
2. I *did not know* anybody would try to make tamales/pie without meat.
3. Just last night made 101 Cookbooks “Big Beautiful Quinoa Bowl”, very tasty and satisfying, but yeah, there was baked chicken too–psychological need for meat at dinner, not true at your house?
4. I wish recipes weren’t seen as outdated–when I see “vintage” or “retro” labels on food it’s just.. food. Of course pretend meat shouldn’t try to substitute for burger/whatever, but that’s a separate issue.
5.That picture is very appetizing! Your gnocchi rounds are golden & perfect. I’ve never tried semolina (just cornmeal) for that kind of base for a dish.
Enjoyed this post very much!
Thank you. It is bookmarked!
Thanks for the shout out, Erin! This recipe looks AMAZING! I will have to try it when I get back to a real kitchen in Seattle! xoxo
Oh Yum! I will be cooking this soon, Erin!
I also have issues with vegetarian cuisine, especially with soy substitutes for meat – such as tofurkey and chicken and bacon flavored tofu. Methinks if you want to be a vegetarian, eat vegetables, not meat imitations!
And Jen, that mushroom and Napa cabbage dish sounds selectable!
Rosemary, try roasting your vegetables first, until they are caramelized with all sorts lovely brown bits to add another layer of flavor to the stock.
When I talk about vegetarian food being outdated I am referring to the cuisine of thirty years ago that was limited and frankly boring. Food media has a history of giving you the same thing over and over again without offering the diversity people crave. So, yes in my opinion it is very outdated.
Debbie, You’re welcome!
Suresh, You are so welcome! See you in NYC!!!
Donna, I agree, so many people overuse these things instead of learning how to achieve satisfying flavors and hearty meals from vegetables and technique alone.
Another trick for the stock is to reduce it a bit to concentrate the flavours. I also “bruise” the ingredients so that they leak their flavour into the water. Then a long slow cooking time and you have lovely stock.
Erin, if you can get your hands on some British vegetarian cookbooks, I promise you that none of them contain recipes for tamale pie! The one I swear by and cook from constantly is called The Cranks Bible… some of the recipes are a bit fussy but they are definitely epicurean and there isn’t a bit of fake meat in sight. The Ottolenghi cookbook is another I use a great deal – not strictly vegetarian, but about 2/3 of the recipes are, and they are just fantastic.
I’ve been a vegetarian for 18 years and have never ever understood the attraction of meat substitutes. If I really wanted meat that badly, I would eat the real thing!
Haha! I do enjoy your rants, you should do it a lot more. As a ranter myself I totally get another. And enjoy your cooking too of course!
Debbie, I like the idea of bruising the veg, thanks!
Rachel, Oh my goodness, The Ottolenghi Cookbook is amazing! I’ll have to look up The Cranks Bible, I love to see vegetarian food approached from a more epicurean standpoint.
Thanks Bordeaux, I just may have to do that.