London: Quorn cooking at The Kids Cookery School

I was invited to attend a children's cookery school at The Kid's Cookery School with my two grandsons in the Easter school holiday. The boys endured a long train ride to West London venue and were really well behaved and quite excited.

Both boys went off to make pizzas and buns for their Quorn burgers while their mum and I had a session with Alison a Home Economist from Quorn research and test kitchen who gave us a really great insight into Quorn.

We were shown a short video of the production and Alison had a bag of the product as it is made.  What they turn it into really is full of imagination (and may I add taste and texture).

I have used Quorn frozen mince before but have never bought the ready made products from the chilled food sections and I was really impressed at the range.  Click here for my Quorn Spaghetti Bolognaise recipe.

I don't buy Quorn or other meat substitutes in the hopes that they will taste just like the product they are replacing.  We are not by any means vegetarians in our household however I do try to keep meat to a minimum and we tend to have 2-3 meat-free days per week.

We tried the Quorn 'chicken' fillets which had been marinated in a sort of tandoori marinade and they were actually delicious. I would make these at home, not to replace meat but to add to a salad or buffet as something delicious and healthy to eat.

The boys (Big & Small) went off with the instructors and immersed themselves into pizza dough making followed by decorating and topping their pizzas which were subsequently cooked and wrapped for them to take home. 

Their second session was making the bread rolls for their 'chicken' and 'beef' burgers also wrapped ready for them to take home. 

They both had a great time and chatted to us non-stop on the way home about their cooking school and Chef John!

Once home they wanted to eat their pizzas for supper.

Apart from the children having a great time and also learning a bit about healthy cooking and eating I was very interested to learn how sustainable Quorn is and how high in protein it is. 

A few Quorn facts for you:-
* Quorn is a mycoprotein created by Lord Arthur Rank (Rank Hovis McDougall) in the 1960s
* Originally created as a substitute to the dwindling world meat supplies it is now marketed as a range of versatile meat-free products suitable for all vegetarians.
* Quorn is a healthy protein with a low environmental impact much lower than that needed to bring beef or chicken to the dinner table.

If you want to know more about the sustainability of Quorn click here.

Quorn is a funny word but is actually named after the little Yorkshire village where the concept was started!

Do you use Quorn? What is your favourite recipe that you make with it? Do you have any meat-free days each week?

I was a guest of Quorn with my daughter and grandsons.  We were not required to write a positive review and did not receive payment for attending.  All opinions are my own and photographs are my own.