Since the food prices are going up and an eat-out became rather like a birthday treat I decided that every once in a while I will treat ourselves for a home made restaurant style dish. So when I got back to the mainland and got my hands on some smoked vegan cheese, delicious fat walnuts and some soy granuls I knew immediately that I have to make something special from these ingredients. This potato bake turned out to be an umami punch and totally competes with any restaurant style bolognese bake I tried so far. I only wish I had some toasted pine nuts and tahini to drizzle it on top, would be perfection.

Best part of the dish is that is very versatile. I can already see myself making the same over and over again with different ingredients, depending on what I can hunt down: spinach to replace kale from our gardens, hazelnut instead of walnuts, red lentils when I can’t get soy granuls or even foraged mushrooms to get my daily protein boost. Other veggies could go in it, too – like aubergines, zucchini, sweet potato or any other kind of root veggies instead of potatoes.

Ingredients:

For the potato:
750g new potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ts garlic powder
1 ts himalaya rock salt

For the bake:
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
2-3 large leaves of kale, chopped
75 g walnuts toasted and chopped
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
4 large sundried tomatoes chopped finely
150g soy granuls
400mlveggie broth
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper to taste
1-2 tsp italian herb mix
smoked vegan cheese
baby tomatoes, sliced

Chop the potatoes and boil them in water until tender.

Meanwhile pre-heat your oven grill to 200 Celsius degree.

When they aredone, transfer potatoes to a roasting tray, coat them with 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Roast until crispy on the outside.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Add the chopped onion and sauté until fragrant.
Then add in garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
Mix in red peppers and fry for another 3 minutes.
Stir in chopped walnuts and stir until walnuts look slightly toasted.

Stir in the sun dried tomatoes, canned tomatoes, veggie broth, tomato paste, kale and soy granuls. Season with herbs, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar and simmer the mixture until soy granuls are cooked.

Once done, transfer the potatoes to a glass baking dish, pour the sauce over it. Grate some smoked vegan cheese on top and place some sliced tomatoes over it.
Put the tray back in the oven under the grill and leave it there until cheese melts and turns golden brown.