I stuffed a loaf with my Giardiniera recipe last year, but since I had run out of my giardiniera, I made this delicious delight with the contents of my fridge – and it was truly one of the best snacks I’ve had in my life ! It is such a treat, crunchy on the outside and full of colour, with contrasting texture and wonderful tastes on the inside – one bite and your bought, sold, and, dare I say it, a slave to the next bite. This is Vegan Heaven ! It’s also very impressive, and almost like a summer festive treat ! This is made with my white mature cheese, which has a similar texture to feta cheese. Confession to make . . . . I had an extra hand helping me here. It’s not impossible to do alone, but an extra pair of hands to pass the ingredients is very helpful – particularly if, like me, you are going to immerse yourself in a fast photo shoot and you’re hungry at the same time. This one will definitely make your mouth water ! Please let me know how it goes, and Enjoy. Remember, a cold drink will help to wash this down just beautifully (lots of ice and fun !).
INGREDIENTS
1 large loaf (around 1 kg), a little well-done is better, as it needs to be crunchy on the outside
tomato paste/puree – use concentrate if you can, and if you want it a little hot, mix in a little chilli powder
sunflower oil or olive oil (but not extra virgin as it will overpower the other flavours)
1 medium sized zucchini (courgette), cut into slices lengthways
1 red bell pepper, cut into slices
1 large red onion, cut into rings
12 or more mushrooms, cut into slices
a handful of pre-washed baby fresh spinach leaves (or a combo of rocket and basil leaves)
slices of vegan cheese of your choice – I used my White Mature (available from Midas Fine Art Cheeses)
6 to 8 sundried tomatoes, halved
12 black olives (I used Italian toasted ones, they are salty and full flavour, strong, and very nice !)
thin slithers of fresh garlic
1 ‘beefsteak’ tomato, sliced
toothpicks, for closing the ‘side door’ of the bread
METHOD FOR ASSEMBLY
- First fry your sliced courgettes in a griddle pan, and set aside
- Next, fry your onion rings and red pepper slices together in the griddle pan until the onions are golden, and set aside
- Likewise, griddle-fry the mushrooms separately, and then once they are cooked, add a spoonful of Teriyaki sauce to ‘beef them up’, then set aside
- Prepare your bread by cutting the side off it as per my picture, as if you were cutting a thick first slice, then put to one side. Remove the inside dough to create a cave-like cavity.
- Using a silicone pastry brush, brush tomato paste around the inside ‘walls’ of the caved loaf – be sure to cover all the area. Then brush some on the inside slice you have removed (this will be your side lid).
- Wash your brush, place some oil into a small bowl, and brush the entire inside of the loaf with your oil – be sure to cover all the tomatoed surface that you can see.
- Now it’s time to stuff the loaf. Start off by laying around 3 slices of your pre-cooked courgette/zucchini (see pic), then a layer of tomatoes, and then another layer of courgette/zucchini.
- Now you need to add (yes, I used my clean fingers for this) a handful of your precooked onion rings and bell peppers, making sure to spread them over as much surface as you can cover.
- On top of this you need to add a good handful of mushrooms – don’t be afraid to go for it. Press the mixture down very carefully to make space for your cheese slices (or mine for that matter) which you place on top.
- Now add the olives (I pitted them first), then the sundried tomatoes, and finally squeeze in the spinach.
- Finally, close the door of this magic loaf with your toothpicks (see pic).
- Then, using a very sharp serrated knife, cut the loaf in half, and then in quarters.
- Pour yourself a long, thirst-quenching drink, sit back, and indulge.
All recipes and content © Miriam Sorrell www.mouthwateringvegan.com 2010
Thanks! I will try this.:)
Let me know how it goes Debra ! 🙂
I’m in the U.S. and don’t have access to Midas. I’ve tried just about every vegan cheese available to me, none of which delight me. Any chance for a recipe or two to make my own OR any plans for the U.S.?
Hi Mary – we hope to have Midas in the US before too long, though we are looking to set up a Home Distributor network in order to achieve this, so we get round the high shipping charges by sending over bulk quantities at a time. If you or anyone you know are interested in becoming a distributor for us, please let us know. You can message us on our Facebook page. Thanks.
Hi Miriam Im back to the good ol’ site. Th first thing that met me eye was this. When we were young me mother used to make one like this every day at about five in the afternoon. She used to stuff it with tuna (we weren’t veggies you know) cannellini beans garlic and or raw onion and lots and lots of oil and pepper. Yummy…I miss everything at that age.
Joe Hi there and good to hear back from you. This is a nostalgic treat for many I guess and can be garnished as one wishes. We are blessed with great Maltese bread and it’s the best in the world we reckon. Joe, we now make and sell our own dairy free cheeses, they look a little like gbejniet, but they taste different and are doing well, we sell them online, go take a look at them here http://www.midasdeli.com best wishes your way ! 🙂
Thank you for your recipes! I LOVE this loaf! My non vegan husband said it was a winner! I changed it just a little buy adding Italian spicies to the tomato paste and substituted romaine lettuce for the spinach (forgot to buy at the market). It turned out scrumptious!!!
Patricia Hi and thanks for letting me know that you made and enjoyed this, glad hubby loved it too ! 🙂