Quorn Cookery Class #ahealthyprotein

As a vegetarian and someone who is trying to implement a healthier lifestyle, I was happy to have been invited to the Quorn Cookery Class which took place recently at The Underground Cookery School near Old Street. Quorn offer healthy protein options for those of us who avoid eating meat or anyone looking to up their protein and lower their saturated fat intake.

I found my way down to the basement (it’s not called the Underground Cookery School for nothing) and was welcomed with a glass of Prosecco and a tasty selection of canapés, including Aranchini, tempura vegetables and Quorn sausage rolls. I am no stranger to using Quorn products, having eaten them for the last 10 years or so since I gave up eating meat, but I had not really thought of making my own sausage rolls! Silly really how you forget about simple recipes sometimes.

The menu sounded very exciting: a tagliatelle & bolognese (with Quorn mince) starter, ‘chicken’ (chicken style pieces) red Thai curry for our main course and a Summery sounding strawberry roulade for pudding. I was really excited to learn how to make fresh pasta – I had tried before and made a bit of a mess – as well as working with big flavours with the Quorn products to make something really special.

Thank goodness we were guided by the chefs – in particular when making the pasta, you wouldn’t think that combining flour and egg would be so tricky! Check out the recipe for the pasta here:

Ingredients – Serves 2:
100g ‘00’ Pasta Flour
1 Medium Egg
Pinch of Salt
Black pepper

Place the pasta flour into a small bowl. Make a well into the middle and place an egg into the middle of the well. Put a pinch of salt into the mixture. Using a fork stir the egg and gradually bring in the flour a little at a time until you get something like a messy dough. Use your hands now to press the dough together and need on a clean surface for a couple of minutes until you have a smooth and firm dough. Add a little water if too dry, or extra flour if too wet.

Using a pasta machine make sure the thickness setting is on highest and should be No.10 on most machines. Roll your dough through this setting and then fold the dough in half. Pass it through again and then fold it in half again and follow this procedure 10 times until you have a very smooth dough. Now roll the dough through each setting twice until you get down to No 2 or 1. Your pasta should be very thin now.

You can now cut your pasta into the shape of your choice. If you have a tagliatelle cutter feed the thin sheet of pasta through it and lay the pasta on a tray lined with baking paper. Blanch in Salted water for 1-11/2 minutes or until cooked and slightly firm to the bite.

Of course it was no surprise to me that the meal was delicious – the tagliatelle and mince starter had great flavour from the ragu of tomatoes, onion, garlic and red wine. The Thai curry also had some fantastic flavours from the multitude of spices such as cardamom, ginger and chilli topped with amazingly fragrant lime leaves (as an alternative to lemongrass). The strawberry roulade made with a meringue mix, whipped cream and fresh strawberries was stunningly light and airy which rounded off the otherwise heavier dishes perfectly.

This event has certainly sparked my imagination when it comes to using meat alternatives such as Quorn, and I really hope to be making my own fresh pasta again soon! I recommend checking out their range of products to anyone who wants to cut down on their meat consumption or looking for a low fat protein source.