"veganised" Italian Food?

mollylmn

mollylmn

New Member
Feb 6, 2015
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Gloucestershire, UK
Hey everyone :)

As I imagine everyone feels, Italian food is amazing. Whenever I've visited Italy, I've always been disappointed coming home to English food as it just doesn't seem to have those same fantastic flavours achieved in Italian dishes :p. However, 9 months ago I turned vegan, and I'm wondering what I'm going to do when I next visit my grandparents in Italy when it comes to the food, as all the dishes I remember and loved have some form of dairy in them.

Has anyone else had any experience with 'vegan-ising' their food in Italy? Do you have any recommendations or recipes to share? I'd love to be able to cook with my nonna when I next visit using any ideas you may have, so I can still have some great dishes while sticking to my plant-based diet.

Thanks so much!
 
I'm vegetarian, but with my lactose intolerance I can't eat dairy or a small amount. I like to have a lot of eggplant dishes in tomato sauce with pasta or you can make a lasagna using eggplant slices and potatoes layered instead and maybe some tofu and tomato sauce. You can also use breadcrumbs on tofu and eggplant which makes a good dish to go with salads and I love pesto which you can make with rocket or spinach as a sauce and use that as a filling for tortellini and some roasted vegetables.
 
Hermann said:
From what city are your grandparents ?
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Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo, Avellino :)

Gabe said:
I'm vegetarian, but with my lactose intolerance I can't eat dairy or a small amount. I like to have a lot of eggplant dishes in tomato sauce with pasta or you can make a lasagna using eggplant slices and potatoes layered instead and maybe some tofu and tomato sauce. You can also use breadcrumbs on tofu and eggplant which makes a good dish to go with salads and I love pesto which you can make with rocket or spinach as a sauce and use that as a filling for tortellini and some roasted vegetables.
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Those are some great tips, thank you! The lasagne sounds great. I'm going to have a search and see what replacement ingredients I could use instead of cheese for a parmigiana recipe - I've found some good vegan cheeses here in England but I'm not sure how easy they'd be to find in Italy! Parmigiana was my favourite dish over there, I'd always have second helpings of it ;)
 
I don't know about in Italy, but you could always substitute stuff for vegan alternatives? Like, a lot of people like to use Soya cheese for things like pizza or other dishes. Or get pasta dishes, just holding the cheese?
 
I have never thought about vegan Italian. It seems very difficult to stick with, since Italian food is so rich in cream and cheese. However, I realize that the Italians also have great olive oil, which they lightly drench on just about anything to make a great meal. It may be a little difficult to find a vegan dish in a typical Italian restaurant, however if you stay with someone, then you could most likely prepare your own meals with eggplant and some great olive oil or salads.
 
I don't know anyone in Italy who is a vegetarian or vegan.... so this might be a difficult task for you, molly!

However, there are plenty of products that are available, that do not contain dairy or meat or anything. They are certainly more expensive than the "regular" Italian products, but I definitely recall seeing some products advertised on TV, and later on, noticed them in supermarkets.
Just a few examples: you can get vegetarian burgers, made out of soy and not meat. However, I think they don't count as vegan food... but maybe you can find something similar to replace meat used in different recipes? I also know there is a special ice cream available, that is not made with milk or cream, so that's probably a good replacement for the regular gelato.

Other than that, if you understand Italian, do a quick search on the internet to find "ricette vegan" or "ricette vegane" (either of the 2 search terms will find you plenty of results!).
 
Vegan-Italian, or vegetarian with dairy, is fully possible, but restaurateurs don't like it cause prepping and cooking vegs require more time than grilling a sausage.
 
You know I lived in Italy and ate out in restaurants as a vegetarian and it really isn't difficult as long as you do like pasta and vegetables. I never had a problem eating out and all restaurants do sides of contorni so you just order an extra one for yourself. Most restaurants will accommodate you, for example I had a pesto lasagna or pasta with porcini which is vegan.

Veggie burgers can be vegan, though some may use eggs to bind the burger, but there are many soy substitutes. I think the OP wanted ideas to cook with her grandmother, so there are lot's of choices using vegetables and what you cook them with.
 
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