Veggie burger and veggie wines by Kerstin Rodgers aka @MsMarmiteLover

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We talk often about wine and food matchings for meat and fish, but what about vegetarian food? What do you drink with a veggie burger? What do you drink with tofu? Or avocado?
By listing whether a wine contains animal products, Winetrust caters to vegetarians and vegans.
Egg whites are used to clarify wine, remove cloudiness and soften tannins. The ‘fining’ process tends to be used with red wines. In Portugal, where monasteries were involved in wine making, egg whites were used for the wines while the nuns would use the yolks to create a host of egg-based desserts such as traditional custard tarts (pastel de nata).
For white wines, other fining agents include casein (a milk protein), shellfish skeletons, gelatin and isinglass (from fish bladders).

What do you drink with tofu?
I’d go with white or bubbles. Unless the tofu is in a garlic chilli tomato sauce, in which case I’d probably choose Reisling.
What do you drink with avocado?
Avocado is oil rich and creamy so I’d want a wine that cuts through, such as a dry white.
What do you drink with a veggie bean burger?
I would choose a full bodied red.

Bean burger recipe

Here are two recipes: one for an easy vegetarian brioche bun (here is a vegan version), another for a vegan or vegetarian bean burger.
I know making the burger buns yourself sounds like a faff, but it’s worth it. Store the buns you don’t eat straight away in the freezer.
If you aren’t vegan there are probably a couple of unfamiliar ingredients here. A vegan ‘egg’ is a binder that behaves in a similar way to normal egg. You make it by soaking 1 tbsp of ground linseed with 3 tbsp of water. Nutritional yeast is the vegan’s answer to parmesan cheese. It’s full of B vitamins and can be bought now in most supermarkets or health food shops. Tasty stuff – like dried Marmite.
Makes 6-8 burgers
For the buns:
250ml warm water
2 tbsp fast action yeast
2 tbsp sugar/honey or malt extract
80g melted butter
4 tbsp milk powder
1 egg
450g flour (half plain, half strong)
1 tbsp sea salt
Egg for washing
3 tbsp sesame seeds or poppy seeds for topping

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix the water, yeast and sweetener together. Leave for 5 minutes.
Add the melted butter, milk powder and egg. Next add the flour and salt.
Stir then knead until you have a sticky dough that you can handle. Or, using a dough hook, mix on speed 2 of your stand mixer for 10 minutes.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Form round patties and spread them out on the baking sheet.
Brush with the egg and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until golden.
Remove from the oven and let them cool on a rack. You can split them and eat them as they are, or, for a burger, they are best split and toasted.

For the burgers:
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
80g breadcrumbs
400g cooked beans or 1 tin of beans
1 egg (or 2 vegan ‘eggs’)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tbsp English mustard
Juice 1/2 lemon
A bunch of parsley, stems discarded, chopped finely
Sea salt and black pepper for seasoning
Olive oil for frying

Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil.
Remove from the heat and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
Divide into approximately six patties, pressing the mixture together firmly.
In an ovenproof frying pan, fry the veggie burgers on each side in a little oil until slightly golden.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Warm or toast the burger buns in the meantime.

To assemble:
Add a squirt of vegan mayonnaise (one food that is actually better vegan) and put a slice of dairy cheese or vegan cheese that melts, a crispy lettuce leaf and a slice of tomato inside the bun. You are now in fast food heaven. Except it’s healthy. Finish with a squirt of ketchup and a side of fries.

Want to make sure you are drinking an animal-free wine? Here is a list to choose from, all available to buy from WineTrust.

Vegan and vegetarian wine list

All of the below are vegan, containing no animal products whatsoever. Those with the letter ‘v’ are vegetarian only, containing egg white or casein but no fish, gelatine, shellfish or blood.

Sparkling

Charles Heidsieck – both Rosé (£45) and Brut Reserve (£35)
Henners Brut (£28)
Gremillet Brut (£20) – v
Lallier – both Rosé (£26) and Brut (£24) – v
Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato (£5.75) – v

Dessert wines

Most of these come in 50cl or half bottles. All make fantastic Christmas gifts.
Ben Ryé Donnafugata (£32)
Castano Dulce (£15)
Laville Sauternes (£17)
Chambers Rutherglen (£12.95)
Muscat de Rivesaltes (£9.95)
Andrew Quady Elysium Black Muscat (£11.95)
Mount Horrocks Riesling (£21)
GD Vajra Moscato (£12.95)
Dobogo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos (£50)
Quady Essensia and Elysium Desert Wines (£9.95) – v

For more vegan recipes, check out my book V is for Vegan.
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Bean burger recipe

Vegan and vegetarian wine list

Sparkling

White

Rosé

Red

Dessert wines