Veganuary 2019: BOSH! recipes from jackfruit tacos to mac and greens

Henry Firth and Ian Theasby make plant-based cooking easy and accessible with their bestselling cookbook. These three recipes are great for Veganuary or any other time of year

Jackfruit – a great substitute for pulled pork – makes a fabulous filling

Jackfruit tacos

Jackfruit is a fantastic and crowd-pleasing ingredient with a fibrous texture and flesh that soaks up flavour brilliantly, but it can be hard to find. Try your local Asian supermarket and be sure to choose green jackfruit in water. These tacos are perfect finger food, combining tasty jackfruit with a Mexican combo of zingy salsa and creamy guacamole.

Serves 6

1 x serving guacamole (shop-bought or homemade)
1 x serving salsa (shop-bought or homemade)
1 x 400g tin young green jackfruit in water
1 white onion
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
100ml vegetable stock
½ tsp Tabasco sauce
4 limes
1½ tsp ground cumin
1½ tsp smoked paprika
½-1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp salt
Handful fresh coriander
12 crunchy taco shells

Start with a deep frying pan with a lid on a medium heat. If you’re making your own guacamole and salsa, do this first.

Tip the jackfruit into a sieve or colander to drain off the excess water and pat the pieces down with a clean tea towel to dry them off. Cut into 5mm strips and put to one side.

Peel and slice the onion and garlic very thinly. Warm the vegetable oil in the frying pan. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon until soft and translucent. Add the jackfruit, maple syrup, vegetable stock and Tabasco sauce. Cut one of the limes in half and squeeze in the juice of one half, catching any pips in your other hand. Stir until the jackfruit is well covered.

Put the lid on the pan, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed into the jackfruit. Take the lid off the pan and sprinkle over all the spices and the salt. Stir until the jackfruit pieces are well covered and taking on the colour of the spices. Transfer the jackfruit pieces to a serving dish.

Slice the remaining limes into wedges and remove the leaves from the coriander by running your thumb and forefinger from the top to the base of the stems (the leaves should easily come away), saving the stalks for another recipe. Serve the taco shells, jackfruit, guacamole, salsa, lime wedges and coriander leaves on individual plates and let everyone build their own tacos.

Chocolate croissant tearer sharer

This is an easy indulgence, created as a result of our love of pains au chocolat. The ready-rolled pastry makes it an effortless, deliciously moreish dish, perfect for the morning after. It’s simple to make, impressive to look at (definitely put the fruity bits on top for added wow factor) and just that little bit naughty.

Serves 4-6

100g dark chocolate
2½ tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
2 x sheets ready-rolled dairy-free puff pastry
2 tbsp plant-based milk
Handful strawberries
Handful blueberries
Handful raspberries
Oat or soy cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 180C. Put a medium saucepan with 3cm water on a medium-low heat. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put a heatproof bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water, and reduce the heat to low. Break 75g of the chocolate into the bowl and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until the chocolate has melted. Pour in the icing sugar, stir to mix it in completely without any lumps and take the pan off the heat.

Lay a sheet of puff pastry onto the lined baking sheet. Pour most of the melted chocolate on to the centre of the pastry and spread it out, leaving a 2cm gap around the edges. Lay the second sheet of pastry flush on top (you may want to ask a friend for help). Gently press the 2 sheets of pastry together all the way round the edges.

With a sharp knife, make 5 evenly spaced cuts into the long edges of the pastry so that they reach about 5cm in from the edges. You should be left with a strip of pastry running down the middle of the sheets that is at least 3cm wide, with 5 flaps of pastry either side.

Cut the remaining chocolate into 10 chunks and place a chunk in the middle of each flap of pastry. Roll the flaps over the chocolate chunks, taking care not to cover the middle section, and press them to seal in the chocolate. Brush all over the top with the plant-based milk. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is golden and slightly crispy

Take the baking sheet out of the oven and scatter the fresh berries along the middle section. Drizzle over the remaining melted chocolate. Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve immediately with a little oat or soy cream on the side for people to pour over if they wish.

Creamy mac and greens

This is our take on one of the world’s most popular tasty treats, a crowd-pleasing classic. A béchamel sauce makes it creamy and delicious and then we add a rich, salty flavour with roasted mushrooms. This dish is moreish and indulgent, healthy(ish) and makes a great main course or side for a BBQ.

Serves 6

1 head of broccoli
1 red onion
2 tbsp olive oil
8 portobello mushrooms (about 325g)
350g macaroni
700ml plant-based milk
70g dairy-free butter
55g plain flour
2 tsp onion powder
1½ tsp garlic powder
2 tsp English mustard
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
40g dairy-free cheese, grated
1¼ tsp salt, plus a little extra
¾ tsp black pepper, plus a little extra
50g panko breadcrumbs
Salad leaves, to serve, optional

For the marinade

5 tbsp soy sauce
20ml maple syrup
20ml apple cider vinegar
20ml olive oil

Preheat oven to 180C. Line two baking trays. Put a large saucepan of salted water on a high heat.

Cut the broccoli into roughly 2½cm florets and cubes (trim the stalks and use the soft parts). Peel and roughly chop the onion into 1cm chunks. Lay both the onion and broccoli on one of the lined baking trays, drizzle with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lightly season with salt and pepper. Put the tray on the top shelf of the preheated oven.

Cut the mushrooms into 1cm chunks. Put the ingredients for the marinade into a bowl and combine with a fork. Add the mushroom pieces to the marinade and stir to coat. Spread the mushrooms over the second lined baking tray and put this in the oven on the shelf below the broccoli and onion. Set the timer for 15 minutes, by which time all the veggies should be golden brown. Remove both trays and increase the oven temperature to 220C.

While the vegetables are roasting, add the macaroni to the pan of boiling salted water and cook until al dente, following the instructions on the packet. Drain and tip into the lasagne dish.

Meanwhile, warm the plant-based milk in the microwave. Put a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Put the dairy-free butter in the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until it melts. Turn the heat right down and gradually add the flour to the pan, stirring vigorously until you have a doughy paste. Gradually pour in the warm plant-based milk, stirring all the time until you have a thick, creamy sauce.

Add the onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, nutritional yeast, dairy-free cheese, 1¼ teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper and stir into the sauce. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens to the consistency of custard.

Add the cooked vegetables and sauce to the pasta and mix together so that everything is well covered. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top, season with salt and pepper and put the dish in the oven for 5 minutes to warm through and crisp up the breadcrumbs. Remove from the oven and serve with a small side salad, if you like.

Recipes taken from BOSH! by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby (£20, HQ)