The theme for day two of Vegan MoFo 2015 is: A Dish from Your Childhood.
This dish is one I remember eating in summer holidays at my Aunt’s house in France. Light and summery, it makes the most of good fresh ingredients and requires little cooking. Of course, the original wasn’t vegan because of the feta – but I found a wonderful recipe on the Maple Spice Blog for a “Baked Almond Feta”. Most nut “cheeses” I have seen are not really doable for me, because they need you to blend whole nuts and, well, my blender just isn’t up to that. This one, however, uses preground almonds you buy in packs (Almond Flour for you foreigners!). You mix it with lemon juice, water, olive oil, garlic, and salt, and then tie it in a funny contraption with either cheesecloth, muslin, or whatever fabric you have to hand, and let it drain overnight in the fridge.
You then turn it out into a dish and bake for 40 minutes or so until it dries out and, let it cool (if you can) and you have a wonderful “Feta” cheese! It’s not as solid as some feta can be – if you want a super solid feta try some of the tofu feta recipes bumbling about the net, but it’s creamy and salty and tangy, just like feta should be!
The finished feta, crumbled a little.
For the pasta recipe, I use cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, chopped garlic, and olive oil. Mix it all in a bowl and let marinate for at least half an hour. Resist the urge to eat it with a spoon.
Once it’s done marinating, just cook the pasta, add to the mixture, plate up and crumble the feta on top. Delicious!
Tomato, Basil, Garlic & Feta Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 batch Almond Feta (or vegan feta of your choice)
- 180g pasta
- 350g cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1 large handful fresh basil, chopped,
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped,
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt & Pepper for seasoning
Directions
- Put the tomatoes, basil, garlic, and olive oil in a bowl, and mix well.
- Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes (if longer, keep in the fridge).
- Cook the pasta until done, and add to the mixture.
- Season with salt and pepper, and spoon onto plates.
- Crumble the feta over the pasta and serve.
Walks, Talks & Eats 