Ch-eitan Noodle Casserole

So using the chicken-style seitan cutlets from the last post, paired with Martha’s Béchamel sauce, we have a nice, down-home casserole to keep you warm on these getting-colder Fall nights. This is rich, so serve up with a salad so you get your veggies.

A couple of notes:

• I could not get my béchamel sauce to thicken with Martha’s suggested 1/4 cup flour. I doubled it. If you can make it work with 1/4 c., more power to you.
• The Béchamel Sauce recipe makes 4 cups. Seemed a bit much for the casserole, despite Martha’s call for the whole vat. I used about 2 1/2 cups worth.

Martha’s Ingredients for Tuna Noodle Casserole
Serves 6

coarse salt and ground pepper
10 oz. green beans, stem ends trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
1/2 lb. gemelli or other short pasta
Béchamel Sauce (see below)
2 cans (5 oz. each) solid white albacore tuna packed in water, drained
5 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into large pieces
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Ch-eitan Noodle Casserole
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s, Everyday Food, October 2009

10 oz. green beans, stem ends trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
1/2 lb. short pasta
2 1/2 c. Béchamel Sauce (see below)
salt and pepper
5-7 chicken-style seitan cutlets, cut into squares
5 slices bread, torn into large pieces
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance, melted

In a large saucepan of well-salted, boiling water, cook green beans until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer green beans to a colander and rinse with cold water, set aside. Return water in pan to a boil; add pasta and cook for about 3 minutes, short of al dente. Drain and rinse pasta.

Preheat oven to 350. In a 2 quart baking dish, combine pasta, green beans, and béchamel; season with salt and pepper. Gently fold in seitan pieces.

In a food processor, pulse bread until coarse crumbs form. Transfer to a bowl and stir in Earth Balance. Top casserole with breadcrumbs and bake until sauce is bubbling and breadcrumbs are golden brown, 25-30 minutes.

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Béchamel Sauce
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, October 2009
Makes 4 cups

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 c. flour
4 c. unsweetened almond milk

In medium saucepan, melt Earth Balance over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add flour. Cook stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden, has a slightly nutty aroma, and is the texture of cooked oatmeal, about 3-4 minutes.

Whisking constantly, pour in 2 cups almond milk, whisk, then add remaining almond milk, whisk until smooth. Cook mixture, stirring constantly along the bottom of pan, until boiling, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and does not feel grainy when a very small amount is rubbed between two fingers, about 10 minutes.

Dinner is served

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Main dish, Seitan, Vegan MoFo 2009, Veganizing Marth's Muffin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.