Veggie gravy

Dec 17

This is a rich hearty vegan gravy that goes really well with just about any traditional British comfort food. It’s perfect for my chestnut, mushroom and pecan roast; veggies sausages and mash; Yorkshire puddings; roasted vegetables; anything you would normally have gravy with basically!

It’s simple to make and can be frozen for up to 3 months; I like to make a big pan and keep a stock in the freezer so I don’t have to make a meaty version for the boys and a veggie one for my daughter when we have a Sunday roast. I do the same thing with nut roasts as they divide into about 6-8 slices and as only 3 of us eat it at a time, I can freeze the rest and use it next time.

Ingredients

Makes 1.3 L

1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped finely
2 carrots, chopped
8 g dried porcini mushrooms
2 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp Marsala wine
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1.5 L vegetable stock
4 tbsp cornflour
½ tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sea salt

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large deep pan. Fry the onion, celery, carrot, porcini, bay and thyme gently for 20 minutes.
Then add the Marsala and cook for 2 minutes, before adding the tomato purée, stock, Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and simmer for a further 45 minutes or until the carrots are really soft.
At this point I used a hand blender to blitz the veggies before passing through a sieve, but you could just mash them through with a fork. Obviously you’ll have quite a bit of left over veggie matter, but you’ve squeezed out most of the good stuff!
Mix the cornflour with a little water so it is all dissolved into a thick paste.
Pour the gravy back into the pan and heat to a gentle simmer.
Add half the cornflour mix, but make sure you whisk it in quickly with a fork or you’ll get lumps. Allow the gravy to thicken and add the rest of the cornflour gradually until you get the right consistency. It will take about 3-5 minutes for the cornflour to work. You may not need to use all of it, or you might want to add more depending on how thick you like your gravy!
Add red wine vinegar, salt and simmer gently for 5 minutes.