Happy weekend, guys! Hope you have something good planned for the next two days. I’ll spend most of my time in front of my computer unfortunately, but I’m working on my bathroom design so that’s fun and Duncan and I are also finalising the latest cut of this very website (cannot wait to be able to hit PUBLISH) so it will be worth it. Plus, we will take time off once the weather is a bit more conducive to chilling in the garden without having to be covered in a duvet, haha.
I seem to be on the pasta train this week, perhaps because I’ve resumed running and so I am more hungry than normal – I’m always hungry but especially so when I run. It’s meant to be getting progressively easier with each run but today I had a bit of a setback. My morning run wiped me out so much that I had to divide my photoshoot into two, I was too exhausted to finish. I’m hoping I can fix that by starting to bring some electrolyte-enriched water with me on my runs, especially when it is muggy out there like it was today. If you too live in the UK, you know that we are having a bit of s***show of a summer again. There were a few gorgeous summer days but now it’s back to clouds and a peak temperature of 20° C (68° F) – not what I call summer! I live in hope that some hot summer days will still happen, but in the meantime this dish of spinach ricotta stuffed cannelloni baked in tomato sauce with a smattering of vegan cheese or béchamel sauce is a perfect dish to enjoy right now. It’s summery with its flavours of basil and tomato, light – especially if you go for a small portion with a massive side salad – yet also cosy due to the fact that it’s oven baked. While cannelloni may look like a complicated and time consuming thing to make, it really isn’t that bad. You can get the tomato sauce started and let it simmer and reduce while you crack on with the filling and stuffing of the pasta tubes. All you need to do for the filling is to plonk a few things in a food processor and taste the end result to make sure the seasoning is on point. Stuffing pasta tubes can get a bit messy and the only efficient way to do it is with a piping bag, which you can totally improvise using a large freezer bag with the corner cut off. Finally, you can top this puppy with a good vegan cheese that melts well or make a quick béchamel instead. It’s not that much work overall and the result will keep you fed for several days so it is totally worth it, promise!
300 g / 10½ oz baby spinach* 135 g / 1 cup raw cashews (or sunflower seeds for a nut-free version), soaked in boiling water for 30 min 150 g / 5¼ oz firm tofu, drained but no need to press!!! 10 g / 1/3 oz basil leaves or 1-2 tbsp vegan basil pesto 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 2 garlic cloves ¼ tsp black pepper ½ tsp fine sea salt, more to taste 2 tsp white / shiro miso paste (optional) freshly grated (recommended) nutmeg, adjust to taste zest of 1 unwaxed lemon 45 ml / 3 tbsp lemon juice 120 ml / ½ cup almond (or other unsweetened plant) milk
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
16-18 tubes eggless cannelloni pasta** (GF if needed) 100 g / 3½ oz vegan mozzarella OR ¼ portion of my béchamel sauce*** fresh basil, to garnish
ASSEMBLY
***You can also use a homemade cashew cream as topping. The baking dish I used is a square 25 cm / 10″ dish, but another shape dish of similar surface area will work just as well.
