Cannelloni, ravioli, manicotti, tortellini…what do these foods have in common besides ending with the letter “i”? Well, it is probably safe to say that they are all loved by many for their cheese-stuffed, pasta goodness. One of my favorite reasons for blogging on here is to discover healthier, less toxic versions of this kind of stuff. With that said, I am loving this cannelloni creation that has been evolving in my kitchen. It delivers a rich, comfort food experience without any of the bad stuff. And, it is great the next day, even cold! I know this because I left it sitting on the stove one cold winter night, and the next morning it was devoured before I could wrap it and put it into the refrigerator! The sunflower seeds give this dish enough clean protein to replace any meat or dairy version, and the mushrooms don’t need any nutrition hype to make their healthy introduction. In other words, this would make a great entree whenever you have that urge for a comfort food whatever…ending in “i”!
(scroll down for interactive, printable recipe card, grocery list and more!)
eggplant cannelloni with mushrooms & leeks
Makes 4 servings
½ cup sunflower seeds, ground into a powdery meal
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 small leek, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. coconut aminos or tamari
3 halved sun dried tomatoes
8 oz. white button or crimini mushrooms minced in the food processor and set aside
Salt & pepper to taste
4 tbsp. cilantro or basil, finely chopped
Pinch of thyme
1 large eggplant, sliced into thinnish slices
Extra virgin olive oil
Smoked paprika
Fresh basil or baby spinach leaves
15-oz. can tomato sauce or 1 1/2 cups homemade
Gently sautee mushrooms until their juices are released, then stir until the juices have evaporated, so that you have slightly juicy mushrooms but without liquid in the pan. In a food processor, process the sun dried tomatoes, just a few pulses, then add the onions and leeks and pulse some more, taking care to scrape down the edges of the bowl into the center. Now add the ground sunflower, mushrooms, and the remaining ingredients, and pulse for a few seconds – don’t over process, this step is just so you can incorporate the ingredients together. You should be left with a semi thickish ball. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Meanwhile, take the eggplant slices and grill them on a griddle, brushed with olive oil (optional) and seasoned with smoked paprika, salt, & pepper, until they are soft and able to bend without breaking.
When your mushroom filling is ready it is time to make your cannelloni. Place your cooked eggplant slices out flat. Line each slice with a generous layer of basil or baby spinach leaves. Then, place a dollop of filling at one end of the eggplant and roll it up so that the entire eggplant slice rolls around and holds the filling in place…you now have a vegan cannelloni! Repeat until all filling is used up. One large eggplant should be just enough for the amount of filling in this recipe. Reserve your cannelloni in an airtight container, or proceed to the cooking stage: Preheat oven to 350F. Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven proof baking dish. Place the cannelloni in the dish, and spoon some tomato sauce over each cannelloni. Bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the filling is soft, simmering, and cooked through. Enjoy immediately with a side salad, brown rice, or quinoa pasta with greens.
| Servings |
servings
|
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds ground into a powdery meal
- 1 small red onion roughly chopped
- 1 small leek roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. coconut aminos or tamari
- 3 halved sun dried tomatoes
- 8 oz. white button or crimini mushrooms minced in the food processor and set aside
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp. basil or cilantro; finely chopped
- Pinch of thyme
- 1 large eggplant sliced into thinnish slices
- extra virgin olive oil
- smoked paprika
- Fresh basil or baby spinach leaves
- 15 oz canned tomato sauce or 1 1/2 homemade tomato sauce
Ingredients
|
- Gently sautee mushrooms until their juices are released, then stir until the juices have evaporated, so that you have slightly juicy mushrooms but without liquid in the pan.
- In a food processor, process the sun dried tomatoes, just a few pulses, then add the onions and leeks and pulse some more, taking care to scrape down the edges of the bowl into the center. Now add the ground sunflower, mushrooms, and the remaining ingredients, and pulse for a few seconds – don’t over process, this step is just so you can incorporate the ingredients together. You should be left with a semi thickish ball. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
- Meanwhile, take the eggplant slices and grill them on a griddle, brushed with olive oil (optional) and seasoned with smoked paprika, salt, & pepper, until they are soft and able to bend without breaking.
- When your mushroom filling is ready it is time to make your cannelloni. Place your cooked eggplant slices out flat. Line each slice with a generous layer of basil or baby spinach leaves. Then, place a dollop of filling at one end of the eggplant and roll it up so that the entire eggplant slice rolls around and holds the filling in place…you now have a vegan cannelloni!
- Repeat until all filling is used up. One large eggplant should be just enough for the amount of filling in this recipe. Reserve your cannelloni in an airtight container, or proceed to the cooking stage:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven proof baking dish. Place the cannelloni in the dish, and spoon some tomato sauce over each cannelloni.
- Bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the filling is soft, simmering, and cooked through. Enjoy immediately with a side salad, brown rice, or quinoa pasta with greens.