Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Creamy and savory, this soup is the perfect starter for any romantic meal.

1/2 cup vegan margarine (try Earth Balance brand)
1 large white onion, minced
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 roasted red peppers, seeded and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup plain soy milk, at room temperature
Fresh basil for garnish
•    In a medium pot over medium-high heat, melt the margarine. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté until slightly softened.
•    Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft. Add the peppers and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper.
•    Purée in a blender until smooth. Return to the pot and stir in the soy milk. Cook until warm.
•    Divide evenly into 4 bowls and garnish with the basil.

Makes 4 servings

Recipe from Peta

Caramelized Fig à la Mode

This simple and elegant dessert is perfect for a romantic dinner.

For the Figs:
4 cups water 8 ripe figs
8 tsp. sugar (try Florida Crystals brand)

•In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, add the figs and cover with water. Cook for 10 minutes or until the figs are soft. Preheat the broiler and lightly grease a baking sheet.
•    Wash the figs and pat dry. Remove the stems and discard. Slice in half and place on the prepared sheet. Sprinkle with the sugar. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar has begun to caramelize.

For the Wafer:
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup vegan margarine (try Earth Balance brand)
1 1/4 cups sifted flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 Tbsp. ginger
3 Tbsp. brandy

•    In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the molasses and corn syrup to a boil and then stir in the margarine. Remove from the heat.
•    Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and ginger. Slowly add to the molasses mixture, stirring constantly. Add the brandy.
•    Drop by the teaspoonful 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Dunk a metal spoon into a dish of cold water and rub over the dough to make thin, round wafers. Bake at 300° F for 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and immediately roll around a greased, thick rolling pin, creating a “nest.”

For the Raspberry Coulis:
1 pint raspberries
2-3 Tbsp. lime juice

•    Purée all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.

To Assemble:
Vanilla nondairy ice cream
Toasted almond slivers

•    Arrange 1 wafer nest in the middle of a plate. Spoon 2 to 3 rounded Tbsp. of the nondairy ice cream in the middle, placing two of the figs on each side. Drizzle with the raspberry coulis and garnish with the almonds.

Makes 4 servings

Recipe from Peta

For the Sun-Dried Tomato Linguine:
1/2 lb. linguine
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pkg. faux-chicken strips (try Morningstar Farms brand)
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, quartered
Salt and pepper, to taste

* Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. Drain.
* In a medium pan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. of the oil and saute the “chicken” strips until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and chop into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
* Heat the remaining oil in the pan and saute the garlic for 1 minute. Add the “chicken” and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Season with the salt and pepper.
* Toss with the pasta until thoroughly coated.

For the Pesto :
3 garlic gloves, peeled
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2-3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup soy Parmesan cheese

* Place the garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and process until minced. Add the basil, salt, and pepper and process until ground into a paste.
* With the machine running, pour the oil into the feed tube in a slow, steady stream until well blended. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the soy cheese.*

To Assemble:

* Toss the pasta with the pesto, to taste, until thoroughly coated.

*Note: This can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Makes 2-3 servings

Recipe From Peta

website: http://www.osf.com

Here is a nice letter from the folks at Old Spaghetti Factory:

Hi Michelle,

Vegetarian/Vegan Options:
We do, in fact, have a number of vegan and vegetarian offerings, which
are listed below:

Vegan Menu Offerings:
* Minestrone soup
* Mediterranean White Bean soup (served as Monday lunch soup
special)
* Spaghetti with Tomato and Mushroom sauces
* Broccoli side dish without Mizithra Cheese

Vegetarian Menu Offerings (have dairy products but no animal parts or
chicken base):
* All items listed above under “Vegan Menu Options”
* Spinach & Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Sauce
* Spaghetti with Browned Butter & Mizithra Cheese
* Fettuccine Alfredo (ask for dish without the chicken)
* Manicotti (Thursday lunch special)
* Broccoli side with Mizithra Cheese.

Whole Wheat Pasta:
Unfortunately, none of the Sacramento units serve whole wheat pasta.
They are the only units that don’t. Many of the online menus are
generic versions per region. If you’d feel more comfortable sending a
unit’s actual menu, I’d be happy to email you any copies you might need.
Eventually the ones online will be specific to each unit as they are all
becoming so different. The Concord copy is attached if you need it.
I hope that helps! Let me know if there’s anything else.

Animal Rennet:
* Mizithra and Alfredo sauce have no animal rennet.
* The Tortellini that we get has animal enzymes in the Romano
cheese inside of them.
* The cheese in the Ravioli has microbial enzymes, not animal, so
there is no animal rennet.

Soy Free Items:
Thanks for your email! We double-checked with our Director of Kitchen
Operations and the following items are the only menu items that contain
any soy product. The soy content of these items comes from a small
amount of soy oil in our margarine:

* Garlic Cheese Bread
* Grilled cheese sandwich (on kid’s menu)
* Butter and garlic butter for bread (ask for olive oil if you’d
like a soy-free substitute)

Peanut Oil:
We’d be happy to provide the information you requested. The following
is a breakdown of all the menu items in regards to nut or peanut oil
content:

* None of our made from scratch items are made with peanut oil.
This includes:
* Sauces: Meat, Tomato, Mushroom, Clam, Alfredo and Marsala
sauces, Mizithra cheese & brown butter
* Salad dressings: blue cheese, 1000 island, balsamic vinaigrette
and pesto dressings (pesto dressing has basil but no nuts of any
kind).
* Other items: baked chicken, broccoli, grilled cheese sandwiches,
house and Caesar salad, meatballs and minestrone soup do not have
peanut oil in them.

There are some items that we do not make from scratch. To our knowledge
these items do not contain peanut oil, but we can’t verify for sure
since they weren’t made from scratch in our kitchen. Items not made in
our kitchen include:

* ravioli, tortellini, honey mustard dressing, croutons, breaded
chicken breast.
* The desserts are also not made in our kitchen so we can’t say
for sure that absolutely no nut product was used in their preparation
- some desserts may even contain a nut as their main ingredient
depending on the specific OSF location. The exception to this is the
Spumoni and Vanilla, which we are certain do not have peanut oil
in them.
* Our breads are made by local bakers. Most bread companies only
use flour, water, salt and possibly a sourdough starter, but we can
double check the specific bread company in your area if you wish.
If this is a concern, we can look into this further for you.

The one item that has nuts in it is the sauce used for the Eggplant
Parmigiana (it contains pine nuts). This is a new item that has just
been added to all of our menus.

We hope this information is helpful and allows your family to safely
enjoy many items on our menu. Make sure to alert your server of any
food-related allergies as well so he or she can best assist you during
your experience. Thank you again for your question and we look forward
to serving you soon!

Sincerely,
The Old Spaghetti Factory