Former MasterChef contestant, TV presenter and so-called Queen of Veg Alice Zaslavsky serves up two delicious meat-free recipes from her new cookbook.

Japanese vegetable pancake (okonomiyaki)

One of my favourite ways of using up leftover slaw mix is to fry it up into an okonomiyaki — essentially a Japanese rosti. The batter is really “as you please” — which is what its name translates to as well. It can be cooked as one big pancake, or as smaller latkes/fritters. You can add more protein to the batter, in the form of chopped-up firm tofu, last night’s roast, or quick-cook seafood like prawns, squid or firm-fleshed fish; just reduce the amount of cabbage by the same weight. To keep it fully planty, swap the oyster sauce in the okonomi sauce for mushroom sauce, and use a miso soup sans bonito flakes. Speaking of, sprinkling this pancake with bonito flakes as a dancing garnish does take it to the next level texturally.

Serves 4-6

¼ cup sesame seeds

⅓ cup neutral oil, for shallow frying

Batter

450g coleslaw mix (or grate 2 carrots + ¼ small cabbage)

4 spring onions, finely sliced, including the green tops

1 cup self-raising flour

50g rice flour

2 eggs

1 cup instant miso soup

½ tsp salt flakes

MYO OKONOMI SAUCE

¼ cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1½ tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tbsp toasted sesame oil

HOME STRETCH

Japanese mayonnaise

spring onion greens (reserved from the batter)

bonito flakes (optional)

pickled ginger (optional)

furikake and/or toasted seaweed snack sheets, cut into strips (optional but excellent)

Batter believe it

Dump the slaw into a large bowl. Add most of the spring onion, reserving some green tops for garnishing. Toss well with your hands to distribute the mix. Sprinkle in the flours and toss about again, making sure all the veg is coated. In a smallish bowl, whisk together the eggs, miso soup and salt flakes until combined. Pour it over the slaw mix and fold with a flexible spatula until there are no clumps of dry flour left. Let the batter rest in the fridge for 15 minutes (set a timer).

Saucy wonder

While the batter is chilling, combine the okonomi sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring regularly until the sugar dissolves. Taste and season to your liking, then set aside.

Seedy interlude

With 10 minutes left on the batter timer, scatter the sesame seeds in a cold 26cm-28cm heavy-based frying pan. Place over medium-high heat and set the timer for 8 minutes, tossing the seeds occasionally until most are golden. Tip into a bowl.

Fry time

Place the pan back over medium heat and pour in enough oil to generously cover the base. Bring the oil to a shimmer. Give one last fold to the slaw batter, then pour it into the hot oil, spreading it out to the edges in a thickish disc. Leave for 15 minutes, until golden underneath and mostly cooked through. Drain the excess oil from the edge of the pan into a bowl (you’ll use it again soon). Slip a plate on top of the pancake and carefully flip it on to the plate. Pour the excess oil back into the pan, then slip the pancake into the pan and cook for another 5 minutes to finish it off.

Bring it home

Slip the pancake on to a serving platter and give it a good crack of black pepper. Spread the okonomi sauce all over the top. Drizzle a thin but generous zig-zag pattern of mayo over the sauce, running a skewer or the tines of a fork through to make a feather pattern. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds, reserved spring onion greens and your chosen garnishes. Serve immediately, cut into wedges

One-pan pumpkin parma

For a midweek vego parma, pumpkin really pops! Microwaving it first helps halve the cooking time, but if you’re zap-less, just bake the pumpkin longer until it collapses (another 20 minutes should do it). The breadcrumbs help bulk out the mix and make the top terrifically textural. I prefer panko for their shape and crunch, but if you’ve got some homemade breadcrumbs handy, use them first! A crisp radicchio salad with a splash of zippy red wine vinegar would be an ideal side here.

Serves 4-6

½ Kent pumpkin (about 900g), washed and cut into 2cm cubes (no need to peel)

2 tbsp olive oil

HERBY TOMATO SAUCE

1 brown onion, finely diced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

3 x 400g tins whole peeled cherry tomatoes

¼ bunch parsley, stems and leaves finely chopped

¼ bunch basil, leaves and softer stems finely chopped

pinch of dried oregano

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt flakes

¼ tsp brown sugar

CHEESY PANKO TOPPING

2 cups panko crumbs

200g firm mozzarella, coarsely grated

½ cup coarsely grated Parmigiano Reggiano

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp finely chopped

parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped basil

HOME STRETCH

extra virgin olive oil

Start the sauce

Toss the onion, garlic and olive oil in a wide shallow casserole dish or large deep baking dish. Whack into your cold oven, then crank the temperature to 200C and leave for about 15 minutes, so the onion can start to soften and caramelise.

Zap the pumpkin

Meanwhile, tumble the pumpkin into a mixing bowl that comfortably fits it all. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt flakes, add the olive oil and toss to coat. Transfer to a microwave-safe container, keeping the schmutzy bowl handy. Cover and microwave for 10 minutes on high. The pumpkin will collapse and let out some sweet liquid.

Cheesy crumbs

In your schmutzy bowl, toss together all the cheesy panko topping ingredients. Set aside.

Finish off the sauce

Once the oven is heated and the onion mix is translucent and starting to caramelise, pour in the tomatoes, sloshing out each tin with a tablespoon or so of water and pouring that in too. Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients, then taste for seasoning. Whack a lid on (or cover with foil) and place back in the oven to heat through.

Put Humpty together

When the pumpkin’s done its microwave Macarena, stir it through your tomato sauce, along with half the cheesy crumbs. Top with the remaining cheesy crumbs. Cover again and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden melty and the dish is bubbling on the edges. Finally, crank the temperature to 240C or flick on the grill (broil) setting for 5 minutes to get some serious bronze on the crumb. If you can, let the dish sit out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving. This will help the sauce thicken up more … and your diners will be less likely to burn their mouths!

Bring it home

Serve drizzled with a little of your best extra virgin olive oil and a little salt flake glitter from a height.

This is an edited extract from Weeknights With Alice by Alice Zaslavsky, $45, published by Murdoch Books.