Poached garden peas

Poached garden peas- ‘Ervilhas escalfadas’ is a popular dish all around Portugal and is very easy to make. BUT, the traditional recipe calls for pork meat and chorizo/ sausages, as well as eggs. My vegan version is super tasty and as filling as the original. And nutritionally, is much better too- have a look at the bottom of the page!

Time: 30 minutes

Type: main dish

Difficulty: 2 pans

Serves: 3 to 4

What you need:

1 small onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

1tbsp soya sauce

350g frozen garden peas

250g firm tofu, cut into small chunks

4 vegan sausages, cut into small chunks

1 beef tomato, cut into small pieces

for the ‘egg yolk’: 1/4 cup water, 1 tbsp corn flour, black salt, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, a sprinkle of turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

water

Utensils:

2 pots ( 1 large, 1 small)

knife and chopping board

bowl

mixing spoons

Directions:

To make the ‘egg yolk’: Add water, corn flour, vegetable oil, nutritional yeast and salt in a pot and whisk; heat it over low heat, mixing well while it cooks for about 3-4 minutes; add a sprinkle of turmeric so it turns yellow; Once it starts thickening, remove from heat and reserve;

Remove peas from the freezer, put in a bowl and cover with boiling water;

Prepare all vegetables and tofu and reserve; If the sausages are frozen, cook them for about 3 minutes in the microwave (or in the oven, for about 10 minutes)- once done, cut into small pieces;

In a large pot, heat olive oil and fry onion, garlic and bay leaf for a few minutes until it turn golden;

Add tofu, sausages, tomato and 1 tbsp of soya sauce, stir, cover the pot and let it simmer over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes until tomato becomes soft;

Add peas and mix (add a little water if it’s too dry); finally with a tea spoon, add ‘egg yolk’, one tsp at a time and mix in between (the idea is to have little yellow ‘eggy’ pieces in the stew);

Let it cook for another 5 minutes;

Remove bay leaf, add salt and pepper to taste and serve while hot- it’s lovely on its own or with rice, roasted potatoes, bulgur…your choice!