Stuffed tomatoes

2 large, ripe tomatoes
¼ cup sunflower seeds or pine nuts (soaked in water for at least an hour)
¼ cup sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped (soaked in water for at least an hour)
Small handful fresh basil, chopped
½ clove garlic minced
Pinch salt


Cut a slice off the top of the fresh tomatoes, leaving stems attached to slice, and set tops aside. Scoop out seeds and flesh.

In a blender, blend the drained sunflower seeds with the drained sundried tomatoes. Mix in the chopped basil, garlic, and salt.

Stuff the tomatoes with the blended mixture. Top with some extra basil leaves, and place the tomato lids back on top. Serve with a leafy green salad.

Alternatively, use red or yellow capsicums and stuff those with the mixture.
NB: Pine nuts will give a richer, creamier taste – but they are very expensive. Sunflower seeds are far more economical.

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne

Yet another use for pureed tofu ... this makes a seriously yummy, ultra low fat lasagne. It freezes well and looks beautiful for entertaining.

Many mainstream brands of pasta are made with just semolina flour and water, but obviously if you are vegan check the labels!

Mushroom and spinach lasagne

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cups button mushrooms, washed
1 packet of soft tofu
1 large handful of basil leaves
1 cup of frozen spinach, cooked and squeezed out
2 tins of tomato passata
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (or dried is fine too)
large pinch each of salt and pepper.
1 packet of lasagne sheets (egg-free pasta is fairly easy to find)
a large handful of grated cheese (or cheeze) for the top

Get out your food processor and finely chop the onion and mushrooms. In a large saucepan heat the oil and then saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in the spinach.

While these are cooking puree the tofu and basil leaves in the food processor.

In a large lasagne dish sprayed with spray oil place one layer of lasagne, then top with half the mushroom mix, then half the tofu mix, then half the passata. Place another layer of lasagne and then the mushroom, tofu and passata again. Finish with a layer of lasagne, top this with some leftover passata (brush it across the pasta, especially the edges) and some grated cheese.

Bake for 30-40 minutes in a moderate oven.

Vegetarian Moussaka

In my very humble opinion this is better than any moussaka made with meat ... and my tofu-phobe husband couldn't pick what was in it. He had some lamb on the side though of course.

It wasn't a massive amount of work, but is more of a dinner party dish than a weeknight special. However, it is a good contender for the freezer. Serve it with a side salad and some crusty bread.

Vegans could easily leave out the feta cheese and instead use a cashew-nut and tofu mix - just mix 1/2 cup of cashews, olive oil, basil and lemon juice in a food processor until creamy and then whizz up the tofu with it.

Now, just a note on handling eggplants. I just cut the top off and peel the rest with a Y shaped veggie peeler. In the bad old days eggplants were complicated by the need to salt them, but modern varieties have been bred to be less bitter.

Vegetarian Moussaka
Serves 6-8

1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced into thin (about 4mm ideally) rounds
2 400g cans of tomato passata, or a large jar of good quality pasta sauce
1 large handful of frozen spinach, cooked and drained
1 portion of tofu mixture (see below)
fresh breadcrumbs made from 3-4 slices of bread
large handful of cheese for topping (optional)

Tofu mixture
1 block of firm tofu
1 200g block of feta cheese or 1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
juice of a lemon
pinch of salt
a large handful of fresh basil, ripped up finely

Firstly, make the tofu mixture by blending everything in the food processor until creamy.

Then, in a large lasagne dish, place one overlapping layer of eggplant, then the passata, spinach, tofu mixture, a further layer of eggplant, and the breadcrumbs and cheese.

Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 45-50 minutes.