Polpettone

This is a recipe I pretty much came up with on my own to make a very common main dish in Italy. Of course, the real one is made with very different ingredients (meat, eggs, and milk). This one actually only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and is extremely tasty. It’s also great because the recipe allows you to do whatever you want with it, add whatever ingredients you like. Below is the very basics that you’ll need, but you can add anything you like; nuts, spinach, whatever you want! (Oh and by the way, polpettone means meatloaf).

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 red pepper
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 400g vegan mince
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 5 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• breadcrumbs

Preparation (15 minutes + 40 minutes cooking time)

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender and put into a small rectangular baking tin (like one you would use for banana bread) with a little olive oil in it, and cover with a layer of breadcrumbs. Drizzle some olive oil on the top and perhaps some himalayan rock salt, and stick it in the oven. Leave it for about 40 minutes, take it out, and flip it onto a plate. I suggest serving it with some fried mushrooms and onions, or even better, some patate arrosto. Enjoy!