Vegan Pains Fourrés Recipe

Photo: Vegan Pains Fourrés in a pan

Taking a traditional Quebec recipe and making it Vegan - Pains Fourrés

Through many of my travels, I have fallen in love with certain dishes. It was either the way they made me feel in the moment or how they encapsulated the feeling of the place or a memory of the people. Whatever the reason, the food stayed with me and every now and again I crave it. Perhaps I am yearning for the feeling more than the flavour, but psychology aside, one dish that always whispers in my ear is Pains Fourrés. This is NOT a vegan dish when it is made traditionally, in fact, its right up there with the Turducken in terms of the number of animals used in the preparation, so switching this up to be vegan was a bit of a challenge. Below is our Vegan Pains Fourrés Recipe. If you try it and like it let us know. Feel free to share with us any of your favourite local recipes that churn up fond memories abroad.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried brown lentils soaked and rinsed (or 1 tin canned lentils)

1.5 cup broth (veggie, mushroom, garlic and herbs - your choice)

1 onion diced

6 button mushrooms diced

2 medium carrots diced

2 celery stalks diced

3 cloves of minced garlic

3 Tbsp ketchup

3 Tbsp yellow mustard

2 Tbsp tomato paste

4 healthy dashes of liquid smoke

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

This recipe will require 12-18 small dinner rolls

How to make Vegan Pains Fourrés:

Step 1 - add your olive oil to a large fry or saucepan and turn on a medium heat

Step 2 - add onions and sauté until translucent, then add the garlic, celery and carrots and cover with a lid and cook for 10 mins

Step 3 - In a pot, bring lentils to the boil and cook them thoroughly, set aside once cooked

Step 4 - Bring stock to a medium heat

Step 5 - Add a little of the broth and deglaze the onions and veg and stir well

Step 6 - Add cooked lentils and mushrooms to the veg and stir. Cook for 2-3 mins and then add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook until most of the broth is absorbed. You want a saucy quality don't overcook it.

Step 7 - Split your small dinner rolls down the middle, but don't separate them. Carefully spoon 2-3 Tbsp of the lentils, mushroom and veg mixture into each dinner roll and then place it in a deep roasting pan or on a cookie sheet. Fill each roll and use up the entire mixture. Feel free to pour over any liquid left in the pot before baking your rolls. Some like it crunchy, others enjoy a Sloppy Joe quality, the choice is yours. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and then bake your rolls for about 15-20 mins uncovered, until you have the desired toasted bread quality you like. Once cooked, take them out of the oven and let them rest for 5 mins before serving.

Some tips and notes:

Brush or drizzle some olive oil over the rolls prior to putting them into the oven if you want the rolls to be moister after roasting (oat milk can be used as a substitute)

Substitute the lentils with veggie ground round is a nice choice, or combine (you could also choose to use a plant-based meat substitute)

When using mushrooms, choose the ones you like best and cook them to the way you enjoy them best. I do recommend using mushrooms with lentils for the proper mouthfeel for this dish and not mushrooms alone

Brown lentils seem to work best in this recipe as the red and green dissolve if cooked too long

Leftover lentils ALWAYS work best for any dish you are using them in, shhh it's our secret

Photo: Vegan Pains Fourrés

How to enjoy Vegan Pains Fourrés

Now you can serve Pains Fourrés as a main dish or as a side. You can bring it to a pot luck. Try not mentioning that it's vegan if it's a non-vegan event. Just let people rave over how addictive and tasty they are and then blow their minds when you tell them they are entirely plant-based Pains Fourrés. Thank you, Quebec and I hope I did this traditional recipe justice. Merci pour la saveur encroyable!

(Recette Pains Fourrés Vegan)

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