Vegan Potato Bake with Tofu Ricotta and a Cheesy Sauce xx

Each time I go to a BBQ, the omnivores always rave about how amazing the potato bake is. Honestly, with all that fat and cheese drowning those poor little potatoes, they often look like a heart attack waiting to happen. I challenged myself to create a potato bake that was delicious and not so terribly bad for my thighs. This is what I came up with...

Time: Half an hour prep, an hour to cook.
Serves: 6-8.


Ingredients:

• Ten potatoes, washed and thinly sliced.
• Two tablespoons of olive oil

For the Tofu Ricotta:

• One block of silken firm tofu.
• Half a teaspoon of dried basil.
• Two teaspoons of olive oil.
• Two cloves of garlic.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

For the Cheesy Sauce:

• Two Tablespoons of olive oil.
• Half a cup of plain flour.
• Four cups of veggie milk (I used rice milk).
• A pinch of paprika.
• A teaspoon of mustard.
• Feel free to add a teaspoon of nutritional yeast to the mix at the end of the recipe. I don't like the stuff so I don't use it. 
• Half a teaspoon of veggie salt and a few shakes of pepper.

Method:

Let's make the tofu ricotta first:

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture is a nice, creamy consistency.

You may need to scrape the sides with a spatula occasionally. Set aside.

Now, for the cheesy sauce:

Grab a saucepan. Place it on your stove top over medium to high heat. Add the olive oil and heat through. Mix in the flour. Very slowly, add the veggie milk and stir  the mixture as you do this. You should initially have a paste which will thicken up and become a custard. Add the paprika, mustard, nootch, and salt and pepper. Take off the heat and mix well.

Take a large oven proof pan and add one tablespoon of the oil to the bottom. Rub the oil over the whole pan. Add half of the potatoes and spread half of the ricotta mixture over them. Next, add half of the cheese sauce. Repeat the process so that you end up with the cheese sauce on top. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with some paprika.

Place some aluminium foil over the top of the pan and bake in the oven at 180C or 360F for one hour. Towards the end of that hour, remove the al-foil so that the top gets nice and brown. 

And that's it. Take out of the oven and enjoy! xx