Vegan pumpkin and mince casserole
There are countless ways to prepare pumpkin in autumn. From pumpkin pie to pumpkin pasta to pumpkin cookies, the possibilities are endless.
- For the vegan mince layer:
- 200 g vegan minced meat (e.g. from Tomami)
- 1 onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 EL Senf
- 2 TL Liquid Smoke
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
- 1 tsp hot paprika powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 EL vegane Butter
- 100 g pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- For the pasta and vegan cream sauce:
- 2 EL vegane Butter
- 1 onion
- 300 ml plant-based milk
- 250 ml vegan cream
- 250 ml water
- 300g short pasta
- 3 tbsp yeast flakes
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 50g vegan shredded cheese
- Nutmeg
- For topping:
- 100g vegan shredded cheese
- 2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil
- 50 g panko breadcrumbs (or breadcrumbs)
- 1 tsp dried sage (optional)
- Aside from that:
- 500 g Hokkaido pumpkin
- Side salad
- vegan butter for greasing
- Salt
- Pfeffer
- Prepare the vegan mince according to the package instructions. For Tomami's vegan mince, mix 200 grams of dry mix with 40 grams of oil and 400 milliliters of cold water. Finely chop the onion and garlic and stir them in. Add mustard, liquid smoke, soy sauce, sweet paprika, hot paprika, and cayenne pepper. Mix everything thoroughly and let it stand in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While the mince is cooking, prepare the vegan cream sauce. Melt vegan butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Finely dice the onion and sauté it until translucent. Then add plant-based milk, vegan cream, and water, season with salt, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and remove it from the heat 2 minutes before it's al dente. Now add nutritional yeast, rosemary, thyme, vegan shredded cheese, and nutmeg, and stir well. Set the saucepan aside.
- Remove the seeds from the pumpkin (the seeds are no longer needed) and cut into 1 centimeter cubes.
- Remove the vegan mince from the refrigerator and fry it in a pan with oil until golden brown. Break it up with a spatula so that it becomes crumbly. Heat vegan butter in a small pan until it bubbles and fry the ready-to-eat pumpkin seeds in it for 2–3 minutes. Season with agave syrup, salt, and pepper, and fold into the fried vegan mince.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (convection) and grease a 33 x 20 cm baking dish with vegan butter. First, add the pasta in sauce to the dish, then the pumpkin cubes, and finally the vegan mince.
- For the crispy cheese crust, first add oil to the vegan shredded cheese and mix. Then mix the shredded cheese with panko breadcrumbs and, optionally, dried sage, and use this mixture to cover the casserole. Bake the pasta bake at 180°C (convection) for about 30 minutes, until the pasta is al dente and the vegan cheese layer is golden brown and crispy. Optionally, you can use the top heating element or grill function of your oven for a few more minutes to brown the casserole more intensely. Serve the casserole with a side salad.
The pasta and pumpkin layer: Before adding the pasta to our casserole dish, we cook it in a vegan cream sauce until almost al dente. It then has time to finish cooking in the oven. We mix vegan shredded cheese and dried herbs into the cream sauce. We used fusilli pasta in our recipe, but of course other short pasta shapes work just as well.
The "cheese layer": For the cheese layer, we absolutely love using vegan shredded cheese. We add a little oil to a bowl or directly into the bag, as this helps the vegan cheese melt better. If you also add panko (or breadcrumbs), the layer becomes extra crispy, which we love. You can also mix in dried herbs to taste. We added dried sage, which was a great addition.
So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!
- Prepare the vegan mince according to the package instructions. For Tomami's vegan mince, mix 200 grams of dry mix with 40 grams of oil and 400 milliliters of cold water. Finely chop the onion and garlic and stir them in. Add mustard, liquid smoke, soy sauce, sweet paprika powder, hot paprika powder, and cayenne pepper. Mix everything thoroughly and let it stand in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
