Are you already in the planning stage for this year’s Christmas menu? First of all, you might think of the usual (German) classic dishes like goose or duck. But perhaps this year you feel like doing something completely different. It does not always have to be meat. There are so many great vegetarian and vegan recipes out there now. Since the bird is certainly not missed 😉
So why a vegan Christmas dinner?
If you conjure up a vegan recipe variant, you generally use fewer resources and cause fewer emissions than if you opt for a variant with animal ingredients, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme. So does that motivate you to check out some alternatives to the usual meat classics for your holiday menu this year? For us in any case!
Therefore, we have put together a menu for you from the vegetarian/vegan recipes of our Green Pearls® partners. In this post, we’ll tell you which dishes are suitable for Christmas with family and friends and how to prepare them. Let yourself be inspired 😉
Aperitif
As an appetizer, we found a super delicious sweet potato hummus for you at CERVO Mountain Resort in Zermatt. The sustainable hotel’s kitchen combines oriental, italian and welsh influences in a creative and unique way. The CERVO Mountain Resort kitchen team procures all ingredients regionally, i.e. products come within a maximum radius of 150 km. To accompany the hummus, consider serving vegan lentil chips of your choice or fresh bread for dipping. With this tasty appetizer, you can get yourself and your guests in the right mood for the festive evening. Click here for the recipe!
Appetizer
There’ s nothing like a warm soup as a light appetizer don’t you think? The Naturresort Schindelbruch in Saxony-Anhalt attaches great importance to regional cuisine and has the perfect vegetarian dish for you with its delicious chestnut seed soup . If you eat a vegan diet, or want to whip up a vegan version for someone in your festive party, it works beautifully with this recipe. Simply replace the animal elements of milk, cream and butter with plant-based alternatives made from oats and soy. Have fun preparing it!
Main course
“Sea & Mountains” Dumplings
Some recipes can be wonderfully varied depending on taste or completeness of the ingredient list 😉 The “Sea & Mountains” dumplings by Luca Sordi, chef at the vegan hotel LA VIMEA in South Tyrol, are perfect for this. So get inspired and modify the recipe according to your or your festive guests’ preferences, or cook it 1:1.
Dumplings “Sea & Mountain”
Ingredients
The pasta dough
- 300 g Durum wheat semola flour (pasta flour)
- 150 g Water (warm)
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil extra virgin
- 2 g Black charcoal
- 1 pinch Salt
The filling
- 100 g Vegan ricotta (or other vegan mild cheese)
- 300 g Mix of raw mushrooms (Chef Sorte used Oyster and Shitake)
- 2 cloves Garlic
- Aromatic herbs (rosemary, savory, sage, thyme)
- Salt & Pepper
The blue cauliflower cream
- 250 g Cauliflower
- 150 ml Cooking water
- 50 g Seeds oil
- 2 g Blue pea flower powder
- Nutmeg, Salt & Pepper
The seeweed salad
- Seaweed (Chef Sordi used Dulse and Wakame)
- Olive oil extra virgin
- Fresh chili, Lemon zest, Garlic, Parsley
The caviar
- 50 g Tapioca pearls
- olive oil extra virgin
- smoked paprika, salt
The foam
- 150 g Almond Milk
- 8 Juniper berries
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
The Dumplings
- Mix the flour, salt and charcoal.Pour the warm water and oil on top of the dry part and mix energetically (by hand of with help of kitchen aid).You need to get a dark gray dough, with plastic texture, not too dry.Give to it a rectangular shape, cover with kitchen film and keep it in the fridge for at least one hours.
- Cut the mushroom for the filling and cook them in a super hot pan with olive oil, garlic and herbs. Add salt and pepper just at the end, when well cooked.
- Blend them with the ricotta, getting a homogeneous mixSeason with fresh thyme or savory and in case more salt and pepper.
- With the help of a rolling pin make a 2 mm pasta sheet.Cut the pasta with a round pasta cutter or other circular tools – Chef Sordi made 9 cm but it is up to the final size you want to get. Up to you!
- Put the filling in the center of circular pasta, make the pasta around a bit wet and close it with the technique you prefer. Chef Sordi use a “culurgines” shape (sardinian pasta) – you could find plenty of videos onyoutube also for similar shapes (gyoza, momo, chineese dumpligs).Boil for 4 minutes in salted water.
The blue cauliflower cream
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Chop the cauliflower in small florets. Put the cauliflower in and cook for 8-9 minutes.Blend them, still hot, with some cooking water, the oil, salt pepper nutmeg and blue pea flower color.
The seeweed salad
- Cook the seeweeds according to the pack instructions and cool them down.Mix in a little bowl some oil with finely chopped aromas: garlic, chili, lemon zest, parsley.
The caviar
- Cook the tapioca pearl for about 20 minutes or until the pearls are completely transparent.Strain them an wash them several time under fresh water.Season with oil, salt and smoked paprika.
The foam
- Bring the water to a boil. Turn off and infuse the (previously broken) berries for 15 minutes,Remove the berries, add the salt and cool down to about 40°C (just warm).Make the foam with the help of a stick blender.
- Warm the cauliflower cream and put couple of spoon on the plate.Procede to put the pasta, seasoned with just some oil and fresh herbs.Put now the seaweed salad, at room temperature.Finish with the smoked caviar, the foam and some cress.
Potato Strudel
The open kitchen concept at Biohotel Sturm in the Rhön means you can watch the kitchen team prepare your order. Use this idea and prepare the menu for the party together with your guests. This will automatically create a happy, relaxed atmosphere in which you can create something as a community, i.e. cook your dinner. On top of that, it’s less work for you as the host and you don’t miss out on anything by standing alone in the kitchen for hours.
The Biohotel Sturm’s vegan potato strudel recipe is perfect for this. If you already cook the potatoes in advance, the rest of the preparation goes really fast. Here’s to good cooperation 😉 Click here for the recipe.
Vegan Neapolitan Cauliflower Salad
Some foods have great stories to tell. So does the Vegan Neapolitan Cauliflower Salad from Chef Paola at Eco Park Hotel Azalea in Trentino. As a rich and traditional side dish, it was traditionally prepared by her grandfather on Christmas Eve. Over the holidays that followed, the family kept adding “leftovers” so that the salad tasted a little different each time. In the process, a folk story was told. Sustainability at Christmas, that’s what it’s all about. Have fun recreating the cauliflower salad and telling stories!
Colorful gnocchi
The next recipe also comes from the kitchen of Eco Park Hotel Azalea. At this amazing resort in Trentino, especially at Christmas, there are incredible things to do for young and old (if you want to learn more, feel free to read on here – LINK to the blog Alternative Winter Vacation). But not only that, the chef Paola knows what children like: colored gnocchi. These delicious potato gnocchi get their different colors with the help of natural plant powder. With the sauce of your choice, this colorful dish is guaranteed to leave nothing on the plate. You can find the recipe here.
Dessert
From the villa wonderland of Keemala, Thailand, we received this unusual and refreshing dessert recipe for an organic, lemon-flavored Longan Cheesecake. After you have had all the hearty, hearty food and probably a piece or two of chocolate or a sugary cookie or two, this lemon dessert is perfect. The Longan fruit used for it is believed to improve skin health and grows on the Longan tree, which belongs to the soap tree family. You can get the ingredients for this special dessert at the Asia Market.
Organic Longan Cheesecake with Lemon Flavor
Ingredients
cake
- 250 gr Flour
- 1 Egg
- 70 gr White sugar
- 120 gr Cold butter
- 1 Pinch Salt
Filling
- 125 gr Dried organic longan
- Cinnamon powder
- 125 gr Dried organic longan
- 50 gr Red beans
- 125 gr Orange juice
- 50 gr Lemon yellow
- Almond paste
- 500 gr Cream cheese
Decoration
- 125 gr Fresh strawberry
- 50 gr Blueberry Fresh
- 50 gr Black grape (without seeds)
Notes
- Knead all the ingredients for the short pastry using a food processor for a few minutes. It works the same way with your hands.
- Press the dough in a tart pan and prick it with a fork to let the steam escape and prevent bubbles from forming under the crust.
- Once the tart is in the oven, saute the dried longan, red beans, cinnamon, orange juice and salt.
- After 10 minutes, pour everything on the tart, leaving half for the top layer, then bake it for another 20 minutes at 180 °C.
- For the last layer, mix the cream cheese with the grated lemon zest and put it on top.
- Garnish with breadcrumbs and dried longan.
- Decorate the plate with mixed fruits and edible flowers.
Your Christmas menu can look this creative and appealing without any meat, and optionally even completely without animal ingredients. It sounds incredibly delicious, doesn’t it? Could we inspire you to prepare a vegetarian or vegan menu? Feel free to let us know what you’re serving on Christmas Eve.
Save one of the pins so you can have the recipes at your fingertips when the time comes.
Loading...
