A comforting casserole which is something between a mexican chilli dish and a lasagne. The brown lentils give it a satisying meatiness, the black beans texture and layers of tomato-brushed tortillas with cashew-tofu cream add a delicious lightness to this protein-packed vegan pie. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
- 4 tomato (chopped)
- 5 medium mushrooms
- 1 cup brown lentils (dried)
- 1 cup black beans (dried)
- 1 cup of beer (optional)
- 180g tofu
- ½ cup cashew nuts (can be crushed)
- 8 tortillas
- 2 medium carrots (chopped)
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 green pepper (chopped)
- 1 brinjal
- 1 cup of vegetable stock
- handfuls of fresh chopped corriander and parsley
- 20 strands of safron (optional)
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp red dried chilly flakes
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp corriander seeds (ground)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 thumb of fresh ginger
- 2+2 tbsp vinegar
- 2+2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp of ground linseeds
- 2 tbsp of carrub flour (optional)
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ + ½ tsp rock salt
- 2 tbsp Port (optional)
Preheat oven to 120⁰C.
Make the tomato purée
You can skip this and just use a tin of tomato purée but I prefer making my own by slow-roasting for extra sweet-and-umaminess. Chop the 4 tomatoes. Add ½ tsp ground black pepper and ½ tsp rock salt. 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp vingegar and 2 tbsp port. Put in oven at 120⁰C for 1 hour or more. 20 mins before the pie filling is ready take the tomatoes out to cool and purée/blend (optional).
Cook beans and lentils
Put dried beans and lentils in pot and cover with water (no salt) so that the water surface is 3cm above. Bring to rapid boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour (may require more cooking time depending on factors like hard water).
Make the cashew-tofu cream
Cover cashew nuts in warm water and let soak for 20 minutes. Put tofu and 2 tbsp white vinegar. 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast, blend to consistency of thick cream. Add water if necessary.
Make the Pie Filling
(Keep an eye on your lentils and beans. Make sure they’re covered with enough water. Add some more if necessary)
Finely chop/dice (we pulsed it in the food processor) brinjals, carrots, green peppers together.
Meanwhile preheat oven to 180⁰C.
In a saucepan or pot, with 1 tbsp of olive oil, sautee chopped onion/garlic/ginger mix. Add a pinch of salt. Keep on medium heat for a few minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and sautee, season if necessary. After a few more minutes add the vegetable stock (1 cup) and beer (or 2 cups of veg stock). Bring to boil and simmer. Add 1 tsp coriander seeds (ground), 1 tsp chilly flakes (more if you like it hotter), and 2 tsp smoked paprika. Add the lentils and beans. Add the ground linseeds.
Simmer and let thicken for about 15 minutes. Set aside.
Season to taste.
No-one went to jail for cleaning up along the way.
In an ovensafe pot or caserole dish, grease bottom and sides with olive oil.
Put first tortilla at the bottom of the pot, brush with tomato purée. Add 2 tbsp of cashew mix as layer and spread evenly. On top of the cashew cream add 4 serving spoons of pie filling mix - spread evenly. Repeat 6 more times, layers of tortilla, tomato, cashew mix, pie filling. Adjust quantity of bean mix as necessary to use up by the time you get to the last layer.
On top layer, leave out the bean mix - just tomato and cashew. Sprinkle nutritional yeast and paprika on top.
Bake @ 180⁰C for 25 minutes.
Sprinkle pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds on top and bake for 5 more minutes.
Serve with guacamole, chopped parsley and fresh corriander.
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Filling the pot with layers of tortilla.
The bean mix.
Final result.