Ingredients for vegan seitan ragout with cashew nut cream and squash and saffron purée
- 2 Veggie Protein Blocs
- 800 g onions
- 8 cloves garlic
- Olive oil (Amanprana Verde Salud)
- ½ red chilli
- 4 bay leaves
- A pinch of fleur de sel (Amanprana)
- Black pepper
- 3 L red wine
For the cashew nut cream
- 200 g cashew nuts, soaked overnight
- 100 ml water
- A pinch of fleur de sel (Amanprana)
For the purée
- 8 large potatoes (unpeeled)
- ½ an onion squash
- ¼ tsp saffron threads
- A pinch of fleur de sel (Amanprana)
- A pinch of pepper
- A pinch of nutmeg
Preparation of vegan seitan ragout with cashew nut cream and squash and saffron purée
- Start by making the cashew nut cream: place the cashew nuts in the blender with the fleur de sel and water and blend until creamy.
- Peel the onions and garlic and slice finely.
- Lightly fry in a little olive oil in a large pan.
- Leave the seitan to drain, then fry in olive oil in small batches until golden brown.
- Add to the pan with the onions and garlic, add a pinch of fleur de sel and cook until the seitan turns a lovely brown colour.
- Deglaze the pan with half of the red wine and continue to cook until almost all of the liquid is gone.
- Pour in the rest of the red wine and simmer for a further 10 minutes or so.
- Add the cashew nut cream to the ragout and simmer until you have a smooth consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, then cover tightly and leave to soak.
- Chop the onion squash and potatoes into small cubes and cook in lightly-salted water until soft.
- Press the potatoes and onion squash through a potato ricer and add the saffron, a little fleur de sel, pepper and nutmeg.
- Purée the mixture with a stick blender until creamy.
- Serve the purée with the ragout, garnished with a little parsley if desired. Bon appetit!
Tip of Stefano:
Making cream with cashew nuts A vegan and lactose-free alternative
Vegetarians, vegans, and anyone who likes to be a bit creative, often try to find a good substitute for cream. Many sauces and other recipes use cream made from cow’s milk. These days there are many other variants on the market, made from soy milk, coconut milk or rice milk. One yummy option is to make your own cream using soaked cashew nuts.
Cashew nut cream is perfect for any recipe, either sweet or savoury.
How do you make cream with cashew nuts? You soak the cashew nuts for at least four hours, then put them in the blender with a little water or milk and purée until creamy. It’s the perfect base for a sauce, as in this recipe for vegan seitan ragout. You can adjust the flavour of the cream to suit your taste. You can make sweet or savoury variations, by adding ingredients such as dates, dried fruit, basil, garlic, olives, wasabi or coconut blossom sugar. Cashew nut cream has a neutral flavour, with just a slight taste of cashew nuts. Once it’s blended it becomes a lovely smooth sauce with a creamy texture. Perfect for when you want to try something a little different.
