The ultimate vegan Thanksgiving main dish: fall manicotti

I actually dislike making the same dishes every year for Thanksgiving since I like to experiment in the kitchen and because a lot of vegetable-based thanksgiving dishes tend to be pretty boring. However, this dish, along with my stuffing tamales, have become perennial staples because they are both so goddamn good. But beware, this dish does take about a week to fully put together because of the cashew cheese fermentation process. However, the good news is that this also freezes and you can just toss the whole frozen pan(s) into the oven and cook like a lasagna. So you can also make this days or even weeks ahead of time. This recipe make 2 two full 9x13 pans or one 18x13, which will feed about 12 people as your main dish or closer to 20 people if you have other major dishes like turkey or another vegetarian main. 

Some adjustments to the three recipes below that are part of this dish: the soup recipe might be slightly thinner than you want for a manicotti sauce, so feel free to cook down a little until it thickens slightly. Also, it might not be something everybody loves, but the soup makes quite an impression as a sauce if you add a little yellow and maybe a touch of red food coloring to make it overall more orange. Alternatively, you can probably use turmeric. Make FRESH pasta; it is infinitely better than dried. You can use any good egg substitute to make this vegan (I use a combo of Just Egg, ground flax with water, and the baking egg replacement powder sold in the baking aisle). And you'll need a pasta roller--if you use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer attachment like me, you want to roll out on setting #5. Don't skip the pomegranate or sage. They are important both for flavor and--especially--for texture. I like to over ferment my cheese a tad, so I add some extra sauerkraut juice and let it sit on the counter once done an extra half day or so. Finally, when making the cheese, I like to make it ever so slightly thicker than the recipe calls for when I make it for the manicotti, as it makes it easier to handle. So you can add 10-20 percent less rice fermentation water than the recipe calls for, if you want. 

1.5 batches Colorado Craft Cashew Cheese
1.5 batches Roasted Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup
1.5 batches Handmade Pasta

Seeds of 1/2 pomegranate (a handful or two)

A couple handfuls fresh sage leaves

Canola oil for frying

Start preparing the cashew a few days ahead of time (see recipe for details).

When you're ready to make the manicotti, first prepare the soup/sauce. Once it is done, make the pasta. Cut your pasta into manicotti-size sheets, roughly 8" square, but sizing can be just about anything you want, as long as they are large enough to roll up fully.

Preheat oven to 350.

Once you have your cheese, soup/sauce, and pasta all prepped, you can assemble the manicotti. Start by adding a couple ladlefuls of soup to your baking pan(s) and spread into a single thin coating--use only enough to fully coat the bottom (to prevent the manicotti from burning). Now roll each manicotti, stuffed with several heaping spoonfuls of cheese. It's a bet messy, but try your best not to slop cheese everywhere. Pack your manicotti fairly tightly in a single layer until the whole pan(s) are filled.  

Now top the manicotti with half of the remaining soup/sauce and cover pan(s) tightly with aluminum foil. (This is where you can freeze [or refrigerate] the dish if you aren't using it right away, just freeze the leftover soup/sauce in a separate container, as you'll still need it when you cook the dish.)

 Bake until the center manicottis are fully hot (I use a probe thermometer and make sure they are at least 175F in the center). The amount of baking time will vary depending on the size and number of pans and whether you start from frozen, refrigerated, or room temp. It can be anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. Just peel the foil back and check every once in a while. 

As soon as you put the manicottis in the oven, deep fry your sage. Heat a cup or two of canola oil on medium heat. You want the oil to be at 250-265F, so use a candy thermometer and adjust as necessary. Working in 2-3 batches add the sage to the oil and fry, stirring very frequently, until the sage is basically done bubbling (but not burned). Remove from oil, transfer to a small stack of paper towels, sprinkle both sides generously with salt, and allow to cool completely and become crispy. Finish the other 1-2 rounds of sage in the same way. Don't throw the oil out! You can use the sage-infused oil in salad dressings, marinades, or cooking (especially other Thanksgiving dishes!). 

Once middle manicottis are hot, discard foil and add another layer of soup/sauce. It may not be necessary to add all of it if you don't want. You can always have the rest as a standalone soup! Cook uncovered ~10 more minutes, or until the freshly added soup is also hot and delicious looking but not drying out. 

Remove from oven and let rest a few minutes. Sprinkle crispy sage leaves and pomegranate seeds right before serving. 

Shepherdless Pie

It's decorative gourd season, motherfuckers! This means it's time to put a bunch of hearty fall vegetables into a big pan and cook it with a ton of cheese on top. Obviously. If you're a non-shepard vegetarian, you'll be substituting some veggies for what has historically been lamb or mutton or whatever it is that shepherds shepherd around and eat in pie form. True fact: shepherd's pie has been in existence since 1791, yet it has never been perfected until now. Really.

If you want to make this dish vegan, just substitute plain almond milk for the milk, olive oil for the butter, and omit the cheese. It's just as awesome either way.

Also, note that the filling is really whatever you want to make it. So feel free to swap out the mushrooms, beans, and corn for anything you might want more.

Prep time: 3 cocktails

2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
4 TBSP butter, divided
1 1/3 cup milk, divided
4 sticks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
A few TBSP minced fresh herbs: sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and parsley are all great
1 1/2 TBSP arrowroot powder
1/2 can garbanzo beans, liquid drained
A handful frozen corn and/or peas
2 tsp lemon juice
A few handfuls grated extra sharp English cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325.

Boil the potatoes in water that is salted to taste like seawater. Once they are soft enough to be pierced with a fork easily, remove and strain water. in a medium mixing bowl, mash the potatoes with 2/3 cup of the milk and 2 TBSP butter. Add more salt, pepper, butter or milk after everything is good and mashed, if you want to adjust the seasoning. They should taste like good old fashioned mashed potatoes.

In a large frying pan, melt the remaining butter over medium heat. Add the onions and celery. Saute about 5 minutes or until the onion starts to get transparent, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms, garlic and herbs. saute 5 more minutes. as the mushrooms cook, combine the arrowroot in a small bowl or drinking class with 3 TBSP of the milk. Whisk with a fork until the arrowroot is fully dissolved. Then pour in the rest of the milk and stir. After the mushrooms have sauted with the onion mixture for 5 minutes, add the arrowroot/milk mixture, garbanzo beans, corn/peas, lemon juice. Stir as this simmers for a couple more minutes. Salt and pepper this mixture to taste.

Now assemble your pie: In a 9x13 Pyrex pan or baking dish, pour the mushroom/onion mixture. Smooth it all out evenly with a rubber spatula, then layer the mashed potatoes over this mixture in the same manner. Then sprinkle cheese over the top of everything.

Put the baking dish, uncovered, into the oven and cook about 25 minutes, or until it is bubbling more than just at the edges. Turn the oven up to broil and cook about 5 more minutes or until the top is looking extra bubbly and delicious, but not to the point that the cheese is dried out.

remove from the oven and let it rest at least 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika and some minced parsley, if you want to add some color.