I don’t need to introduce this dish to anyone who lives in the Czech Republic – you guys all know it, and for those who have never been to the Czech Republic – please meet vegan Czech svickova! Number one of festive dishes in Czech cuisine, the favorite dish of every grandchild who is visiting their grandmother! Slightly sweet, creamy root vegetable sauce served with dumplings – your mouth water is drooling just thinking about it!
Today in a veggie version, i.e. without a piece of braised meat and with some vegan cream. In the photo it is served with an ordinary dumpling, but it unfortunately contain some egg melange, if you don’t mind, then go ahead and use it, but if you want the dish to be strictly vegan, I recommend my dumplings recipe HERE or you can also get a potato dumpling from the store, there is usually no egg in it.
VEGAN BURGER – here we have some great options with which we can replace the meat ingredient. I used the cheapest chickpea burgers, which you can get in the supermarket for less than 40 crowns, seriously. You fry it and it’s ready, but here the most important thing is the sauce, not the meat protein substitute! You can also fry tofu, seitan, some special soy chops, whatever you just dream of.
INGREDIENTS
- 200g of parsley
- 200g of celery
- 350g of carrots
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1L of broth
- vegan cream or plant-based milk
- 5 bay leaves
- 5 allspice
- lemon juice
- spoon of sugar
- salt pepper
VEGAN CZECH SVICKOVA – PREPARATION
- Chop the onion finely, squeeze the garlic, and dice the remaining vegetables.
- Start by frying the chopped onion and garlic in a pan, then add the bay leaves and allspice to release the flavor. When the onion turns golden, add vegetables to it and fry them for a few minutes, add sugar and fry for a while until it caramelizes a bit on the vegetables.
- Then you have two options: braise the veggies with the broth in a pot or bake them in the broth in an ovenproof dish (180 degrees for 20-30 minutes until they are soft). Baking is my way to make it.
- When the vegetables are soft, take out the bay leaves and allspice, add lemon juice (do not get rid of the broth!) add cream or milk and mix thoroughly until smooth.
Serve it with a dumpling and a meat substitute – for example, I used the cheapest chickpea burgers.
