Vegetarian Chicken-Style 'Parmesan'

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I was trying to think of something different to cook for dinner the other night and turned to some of my favourite vegetarian blogs for inspiration. It wasn't long before I found this lovely, simple but tasty looking recipe from Mary at Meatless Mediterranean. Mary calls this dish Mock-Chicken Patties with Parmesan, and she has graciously allowed me to reproduce an Anglicised version of her recipe using UK ingredients/cooking terms (I have also tweaked the cooking method, to one which suited me better.)

I served this dish with penne pasta; all the family loved it and have asked me to cook it again soon (and it's not often that happens!)

Serves 4

For this recipe, I used Sainsbury's meat-free chicken style burgers (which only cost £1 for 4). I also used Sainsbury's basic mozzarella cheese and economy pasta, so I reckon the whole meal for 4 of us cost about £2.50 to make from scratch. It also only took about 30 minutes to cook.

You could also use Tivall schnitzels, Quorn chicken-style burgers or any of the other mock chicken fillets you can buy either with or without breadcrumbs. 

• 2 cups/500ml of Classic Marinara Sauce or your favourite tomato-based pasta sauce
• 4 vegetarian breaded "chicken" burgers
• ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese (I used a 125g ball of mozzarella instead)
• 2 tablespoon grated vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese, plus additional for serving, if desired
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (optional)

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Heat oven to 180C/170C Fan/350 F/Gas 4.

In a small saucepan, heat the marinara sauce over medium-low heat until it is warm but not boiling.

Meanwhile, place the burgers in a heatproof dish and bake for 15 minutes, then remove the burgers from the dish and keep to one side.

Spread 1 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. Top with the burgers and then pour the remaining sauce over. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top and then finish with the Parmesan-style cheese. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling . 

Once cooked, sprinkle with the parsley, if using.

Serve with additional Parmesan-style cheese for topping, as desired.

Alternatives: For a vegan version use a melting dairy-free cheese and vegan Parmesan.

Not suitable for freezing.

Recipe reproduced with kind permission from Meatless Mediterranean.