Your Prog Chef: DARRAN CHARLES (GODSTICKS)

On the menu: Angry Quorcern (Quorn Cacciatore)

“At 17 or 18, back when I was living with my parents, I decided to become a ‘vegetarian’. Unfortunately for me, my mother informed me that nether Findus nor Birds Eye sold any produce that fitted my newly acquired diet, therefore she could no longer provide me with meals.

I wasn’t versed in cooking fresh ingredients, so it was a daunting task looking for food manufacturers who did and then immediately froze them. To make life easier I narrowed my search by only looking for food manufacturers who had close ties to successful 60s pop acts; eventually I found vegetarian food produced by someone called ‘Linda McCartney’. Back then, Linda offered little in the way of accompaniments to her protein-based products, so eventually I had no choice but to learn how to cook fresh ingredients. Thus began my first real foray into cooking.

I’m still vegetarian to this day but never graduated to vegan, which of course you probably realised given that ‘I’m a vegan’ was not my opening salutation…”

Ingredients (serves 6)

Garlic-infused olive oil, 6 Quorn fillets (defrosted), 250g sliced oyster mushrooms, 125g sliced roasted red peppers (from a jar), 50g black olives, 2 tbsp vegetarian red wine, 500g passata, 2 vegetable stock cubes, 100ml boiling water, 600g brown basmati and wild rice mix, dried rosemary, salt and pepper.

Preparation

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan and lightly fry the mushrooms. Add the wine, passata, a stock cube, water, pepper, salt and rosemary. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the peppers and olives, cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and cook the Quorn fillets for about 5 minutes (or longer if still frozen), turning until slightly brown on both sides. place the cooked fillets on plates and pour over the cacciatore sauce.

Serve with brown basmati and wild rice, cooked in vegetable stock. You can make this recipe vegan-friendly by using Quorn vegan fillets instead.

“This is my favourite dish because, well, it’s the only one I enjoy cooking. My wife likes it, too, which is essential. And why wouldn’t she? It’s her recipe after all…”