I’ve returned to an Italian kitchen to show you how to make a healthy, delicious vegan meal this winter, which includes antipasto salad, a traditional first course of an Italian meal, which doesn’t have meat or cheese and stimulates your palate for the other dishes.
The entrée is Pasta alla Norma, a delectable, classic Sicilian pasta with roasted eggplant, marinara and basil. Dessert is my absolute favorite sweet treat—a vegan cannoli, filled with mini dark chocolate chips and garnished with crushed pistachios.
Who doesn’t remember cannoli as one of their best-loved treats from a bakery, and who knew we could make our own without sacrificing anything?
To my friend Cynthia, antipasto is an art form: “It’s so beautifully put together, it’s art,” she says.
“Everyone looks at what you produce, and people will eat more salad if it’s pretty because they eat with their eyes first. I grew up with a family from southern Italy knowing antipasto on a platter—a flat plate, which let you see all the mounds of ingredients. You could take the artichoke hearts and avoid the olives—taking what you liked. This way, no one defiled the base of the salad.”
Depending on what family or what part of Italy you were raised in, an antipasto was seen as a salad or an appetizer coming before the meal. Perhaps that is how the United States got the idea of eating the salad first.
After looking into how to make classic antipasto salad, I found out that romaine lettuce lines the salad bowl, and that prompted me to use my mother’s gorgeous wooden bowl.
There are a few other standard ingredients that traditionally are must-haves: tomatoes, herbs, red onions, olives, marinated artichokes and pepperoncini peppers or another medium or light heat pepper. A typical antipasto also includes different textures—soft, smooth or crunchy—and a range of flavors, such as sweet, hot and savory.
Vegans can be creative and use beans or chickpeas as protein.
“You’re not going to get arrested for putting chickpeas in there,” Cynthia advises. “The concept of an antipasto was whatever you had available, especially in southern Italy where they grew so many vegetables.”
Antipasto Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 head of Romaine lettuce, torn
15 ounces chickpeas, rinsed and drained
A large handful of Pepperoncini (light heat) jarred, green peppers
1 pint of Sunset Sugar Bombs (grape tomatoes)
1- 14.5 oz. jars of marinated artichoke hearts
1 small zucchini, sliced thin in halves
1 small red onion, sliced thin in circles
1 cup of green olives
A sprinkle of oregano and basil. If basil is fresh, tear some for top of salad
Salad Dressing (Shake together in a jar and use as much as desired)
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar
Salt to season
Preparation
Place torn Romaine lettuce into a large bowl. Add other ingredients.
Sprinkle with oregano and basil and add dressing just before serving along with salt and pepper.
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Pasta alla Norma
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes Serves: 4
Ingredients
• 2-3 cups of marinara sauce
• 2 medium eggplants (about 2 ¼ pounds total)
• ¼ cup + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces Rigatoni
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil, plus extra torn leaves for garnish
• ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¾ cup vegan Parmesan Cheese
• 2 tablespoons vegan Parmesan Cheese, grated for garnish
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to shave off long alternating strips of eggplant peel. The eggplants will look striped when you’re done. Slice the eggplants into ½ -inch-thick rounds, discarding the end pieces. Place them in a colander and then salt them to drain for 15-30 minutes.
3. Dry off eggplant and place it on the lined baking sheets. Brush the rounds with olive oil on both sides. Roast until deeply golden and tender, about 35 to 45 minutes, flipping after 20 minutes. Set aside.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve some pasta cooking water before draining (about ½ cup), then return the pasta to the pot.
5. When the eggplant is done and the marinara is warmed up, gently stir the roasted eggplant into the sauce. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, fresh basil, red pepper flakes and dried oregano.
6. Add the pasta to the sauce with a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta cooking water, and gently stir it in. Add the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with additional salt and black pepper. You can add a bit more of the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen up the sauce, if desired.
7. Lightly sprinkle vegan parmesan cheese on top of the individual servings, followed by extra fresh basil.
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Vegan Cannoli Filling Recipe
Serves 6
To fill 6+ vegan cannoli shells (Online order brand, Sanniti Cannoli Shells imported from Italy and distributed from N.J.)
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups store bought vegan ricotta cheese, such as the Kite Hill brand
1 cup vegan cream cheese (Violife brand)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon orange zest
½ cup mini vegan chocolate chips
Chopped, crushed, unsalted pistachios for dipping cannoli ends
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine the vegan cream cheese, sifted confectioners’ sugar, orange zest and vanilla extract together and paddle it smooth by mixer or by hand with a large spoon or spatula.
Fold in the vegan ricotta cheese and mini vegan chocolate chips.
Fill the vegan cannoli shells using a pastry bag, starting in the middle of the shells. (Fill shells just before serving so they don’t get soggy.) Dip the ends in crushed, chopped, unsalted pistachios or in shaved chocolate.
Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of each cannoli before serving.
The cannoli cream filling will stay fresh for a week in the refrigerator in a covered container.