Changing attitudes among Australians are seeing several fast food chains introduce vegan options to their menus as their guests (particularly millennials) reduce their meat consumption.
Hungry Jacks, Nandos, Schnitz and Grill’d all have plant-based burgers on their menus and vegan cheese can now be ordered at chains like Zambrero and Dominos.
Adam Khazaal, Director and Owner of Adam’s Bake Shop in Melbourne has seen a growing demand for more vegan offerings. About 11 per cent of Australians don’t eat meat, for environmental, health and animal welfare reasons.
But Khazaal says on top of that there are many Australians who are opting to reduce their meat or dairy intake, even if they aren’t cutting it out completely.
“There is definitely a growing demand for vegan offerings,” says Khazaal. “Whether or not you are actually vegan, all these alternatives like almond and soy milk for example, they give you so many more options. Before it was not like that, there was a very limited range, so people thought vegan food wasn’t any good, but it actually can be really delicious.”
Khazaal should know, not only is he a vegan himself, he has just been contracted to make a range of vegan products, including lasagne, shepherd’s pie and Bolognese, for a popular retail brand that sells nationwide. Among them, his vegan lasagne is proving very popular with vegans and meat eaters alike.
“I really think the vegan market is growing because it is getting easier to eat vegan. There are so many more flavour profiles and the food is way more playful and fun,” he says.
Chef Adam has been kind enough to share his in-demand vegan lasagne recipe with us, which uses Riviana Grilled Eggplants and Riviana Grilled Zucchinis as well as Four Seasons Lasagne Sheets.
If you’re thinking about adding some vegan options to your menu this is a great place to start.
And what’s next for Adam? On top of running his bread bakery in Lalor and a cake factory in Campbellfield, Adam is launching a vegan focused project of his own (stay tuned) as well as a vegan apple pie using diced apple from Riviana.
Adam’s Vegan Lasagne
Ingredients:
Lasagne Filling
Napoli sauce
600g Four Seasons Lasagne sheets
800g Sweet Potato, thinly sliced
800g Riviana grilled zucchini
800g grilled eggplant
Vegan béchamel sauce
100g of cornflour
200ml water
2L soy milk
10g salt
5g white pepper
2g nutmeg
Method:
Vegan béchamel sauce
- In a large saucepan, dissolve the cornflour in the water, whisking well to ensure no lumps
- Add soy milk to the cornflour slurry and begin to cook over a medium heat
- Once at the boil whisk in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Keep stirring for 4-5 minutes as the mixture thickens, ensure the mix doesn’t get lumps. If the mix is thickening too quickly, remove from the heat.
- Allow to cool.
Lasagne Filling
- To build the lasagne, layer 200ml of Napoli sauce, 1 layer of lasagne sheets then sweet potato.
- For the next layer add 250ml Napoli sauce, 1 layer of lasagne sheets and grilled zucchini.
- For the next layer add 250ml Napoli sauce, 1 layer of lasagne sheets and grilled eggplant.
- To finish top with 250ml Napoli sauce, 1 layer of lasagne and the cooled béchamel
- Add 2 cups of water into the tray to keep pasta moist.
- Cook in a 180 degree oven for 40 minutes or until the lasagne sheets are soft