It’s autumn! To celebrate the first grape harvest, it’s common in Germany to drink ‘Federweißer’ at this time of year, a fresh young wine that hasn’t fully matured yet and tastes light and sweet [btw, the German companies ‘E. Vollrath & Co.’ and ‘Weingut Mohr’ do not filter with gelatine, so look out for those]. The usual dish that goes with it is Zwiebelkuchen (‘onion cake’), a traditional German autumn recipe usually filled with eggs, sour cream and sometimes bacon. As it’s such a traditional dish, the idea of making a vegan and healthy version was on my mind for a long time. I faced the challenge with my friend Joanna, and as you can see, it worked out ; ) Don’t get frightened by the long ingredients list, it’s still really simple. So grab a glass of Federweißer or grape juice, get in the kitchen and enjoy this savoury delight!

For two medium-sized (26cm) pans/4 persons, you need…

For the dough:

• 400g whole-grain flour
• 1 cube fresh yeast
• 250ml hand warm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 0.5 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp rape seed oil

For the filling:

• 800g red onions
• 200g smoked tofu
• 200g plain tofu
• 300ml plant milk
• 250g soy-yoghurt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 50ml rape seed oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• salt, pepper, paprika powder, nutmeg, herbs like thyme & basil

First, prepare a yeast dough: Put the flour in a bowl and form a little pit in the middle. Grind the yeast cube with your fingers over the pit. Sprinkle sugar over, add some water to the pit and let sit for about three minutes. Meanwhile, you can get the ingredients for the filling out ; ) Now add the rest of the water, oil and salt to the dough and mix with your hands until you have an even ball. It shouldn’t be super dry nor sticky, Joanna (< on the left) said the dough should feel like an earlobe ; ) Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let sit for at least half an hour, preferably in a warm place such as on a radiator, in the sun or in the oven (not over 50° C though).

 

In the meantime, cut the onions in rings and heat a big pan on the stove. Fry the onions slowly until they are tender and soft.

While the onions are caramelising, prepare the sauce. Mix the plain tofu, soy-yoghurt, plant milk, oil, nutritional yeast and vinegar/lemon juice in a bowl with a hand blender. You should mix for a few minutes and lift the blender up and down to get some air in the sauce and make it light and creamy. Season with nutmeg, herbs, paprika, salt and pepper.

Now cut the smoked tofu into small cubes and fry in a pan.

Preheat the oven to 200° C (390 F). Now it’s time to get that dough in the right shape… Look at my beautiful animated gif for guidance ; )

I know it’s not the most beautiful gif you’ve ever seen, but it’s my first, and gifs are so much fun! So you’ll see more of them soon ; ) Top the dough with the onions, smoked tofu and sauce.

Pop the tart in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes until golden, slightly crispy but still soft inside. While it baked, we prepared a salad from rocket (rucola), tomatoes, walnuts and a homemade mustard-vinaigrette.

Guten Appetit and a wonderful golden autumn to you!

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