ROASTED VEGETABLE ZUCCINI CANNELLONI WITH MEDITERRANEAN PICKLES AND VEGAN PESTO
It feels like summer, or at least at Cook and Taste we are in the summer mood.
We’re already tasting all the products that the Spanish territori grants us with; strawberries, cherries, zuccinis, eggplants, peppers… All these delicious summer veggies, and fruits, that call for fresh recipes. Light dishes to make a little more beareable the warm temperautres that will be staying with us for some months from now on. A fantastic feast for healthy food lovers and vegans! Vibrant colours, textures and vitamins, in one bite. The recipe we present today is an outstanding combination our chefs created as a vegan alternative in our menus. A very traditional concept in Spain; Cannelloni, with a twist, there is no pasta but instead we use zuccini ribbons to roll in the filling; roasted eggplants, red bell pepper and onions. The combination on these roasted vegetables is called Escalivada, a very traditional dish in Catalunya. One of those simple and delicious things in life. Sweetest onions, silky red bell pepper in you palate and amazing flavorful eggplant. You can use Escalivada as a garnish for meat or fish, on a toast with avocado, you can even blend it with egg and dairy, salt and pepper and make a savoury flan! The possibilities are endless. Like our choice todays; rolled in zuccini ribbons, with pickles and pesto. Fun to cook, you can ask the kids in the family to help out, it feels a little like arts and crafts!
Ingredients (Serves 4)
for the cannelloni wraps
2 zuccini, medium size
for the filling
2 big roasted red peppers
2 big roasted eggplant
2 big roasted onions
salt, pepper and olive oil
for the vegan pesto
1/2 a bunch of basil
1 small garlic clove, sprout removed
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
4 table spoons of hemp seeds
100 ml of EVO oil
salt and pepper
for the mediterraean pickles
12 big capers (tail on)
8 pickled onions
8 pickled garlic cloves
4 gherkins
small basil leaves
Method
Wash the zuccini and make wide ribbons with a peeler.
Lay them on parchment paper, overlapping the ribbons slightly, making groups as wide as the length of the cannelloni we want to obtain and long enough to allow a proper roll.
Bake them in the oven at medium heat for about five minutes or until they become flexible but not too soft.
Peel the roasted vegetables and chop them. Drain in a strainer.
Cook in a pan with a bit of olive oil until all the liquid is absorbed. Check the seasoning
Distribute on the zuccini ribbons and roll the cannelloni.
For the pesto, pick the basil leaves. Save the small ones for decoration and blanch the rest in boiling water. Transfer to cold water to fix clorophyll.
Squeeze the excess of water and blend wit the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Add a bit of water if needed. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
Plating
Transfer the cannellonis carefully on the plates. Drizzle with pesto.
Decorate with the pickles, cut in halves or quarters, and finish with the small basil leaves.
Enjoy!
