Sunday, June 14, 2009

Tuna Baked

As I mentioned below I bought a package of Vegetarian Tuna from Vina's on Thursday after being tricked by my loving partner (because clearly I have no will of my own and blah blah blah who gives a shit, I bought some fake tuna).
I get excited about mock meat because I LOVE MEAT and mock meat is commonly made from gluten products which, because I HATE THE A.W.B., I don't partake of (this is a lie but being a coeliac is BORING) but will happily munch down on any "meaty" product that I can.

Tuna however, I never ever ever ate as an omnivore because I don't eat things that smell like yucky (see: Vegemite -maybe YOU like it, whatever) unless they look good or I'm given a reason to believe I'll enjoy it.
So it would only be a case of trickery that I would venture into untouched meat territory with this purchase, and with a waste-not-want-not policy of purchasing I set out to use it. I was not going to be making some sort of tuna dip or soup or spread for a sandwich (gluten free bread is too expensive for yucky risk taking) and the Vegan Tuna Bakes had been making the rounds through Melbourne's Vegan blogging and pot lucking scene with great success so I thought I may as well give it a go. (ZB also did one recently with tempeh, so maybe there is a national wave of mock tuna happening)

I'd never eaten a tuna bake before, but I do enjoy a macaroni cheese casserole (which is essentially what this is) whenever it's on offer so I figured the only risk was that I'd have to pick out the bits of tuna if I didn't take to it.

I went by Harriet's basic formula of Pasta + Beschamel + Veggies + Tuna topped with Breadcrumbs (naturally gluten free's crunch loaf is what I have around at the moment) and some grated Cheezly Edam in the oven for half an hour and seasoned servings with the good ol S&P, savoury yeast and some home grown parsley.

The veggies I used were red capsicum, mushrooms and broccolini.

The Beschamel/Cheese sauce I make is based on Karina's "Best Cheesey unCheese Sauce" and I combined it with some of Kingland's soy mayonaise on a whim and popped it into the oven at 180c for half an hour which was enough time for the dishes to be done and for Alex to come home with some cola he snatched from his pizza delivery job up here.

The Result? A warming, nourishing meal that had my trickster of a love making incredibley happy "as good as my mum's" noises which (considering the fact that his mum is all about meat and cheese) is enough to satisfy my checklist for a good meal, despite what I think about a certain fish.

I'm not convinced that I'm going to run out and buy another packet of this stuff unless tricked again but I did enjoy it quite enough to eat two servings and feel happy. If you ever liked tuna but can't eat it anymore, this stuff probably does everything you want it to.

5 comments:

x said...

Firstly, I agree Vegemite = ick!

And I am not a big fan of fishy things, real or faux but I think faux tuna bake would probably be the only way I'd eat faux tuna.

And thanks for the link to that cheesy sauce, I might try it (minus the wine).

Cindy said...

AWB boycotter? That's a fantastic alternative line to being coeliac. :-D

That is one cute-looking bake, and I can't help but file away another cheesy vegan sauce recipe to try.

Anonymous said...

must... jump... on... board... i have been wanting to get a packet of this stuff for ages but every time i step outside the house i suffer from amnesia and forget

Anonymous said...

so can you make that for me this weekend? I use to eat tuna out of the can- straight- almost everyday- i was an addict
and i miss tuna- so tuna bake would blow my mind up more than a bucket of blue mountain shrooms
pls pls pls
love love love
fj

Miss T said...

Pshaw! Not liking Vegemite? You and Kitteh are off my Xmas card list!

But mocktuna bake ... mmmm. I never even ate it as an omni, but Emily at aduki makes a ripper version and I copied to to great success at various Xmas parties ... and by success I mean I ate it all!