These courgette roll ups are a revamp of one of the first recipes I ever posted to my blog. It was funny reading the old instructions and rewriting them too because I realise how far I’ve come since then. The roll ups are now simpler to make but still as yummy!
They have two nut based fillings. Firstly a cashew “cheese” made with nutritional yeast of course, some garlic and lemon juice. The other is a mince like mixture made from walnuts, sundried tomato and seasonings. The fillings are rolled up into a long slice of courgette along with fresh basil and alfalafa sprouts to make a fun starter, side or canape.
While this doesn’t really amount to a lasagne what so ever it is what I named them so many years ago when raw food was all the rage and any concoction of raw vegetables, nuts and seasonings could be anything it wanted. So, I decided to keep it in the title and it does give a small, if ever so tiny, nod to lasagne so there we are. Courgette Lasagne Roll Ups from me to you!
Malin x
Raw Courgette Lasagne Roll Ups
Makes 12-15 rolls.
INGREDIENTS:
Cashew cheese:
0,5 cup cashews, soaked for 30 minutes in boiling water
1 small garlic clove
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1-2 tsp water
Walnut mince:
0,5 cup walnuts
0,5 cup sundried tomatoes in oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
0,5 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried basil
0,5 tsp cumin
Pinch of chili powder
For the rolls:
1 courgette/zucchini, preferably long and not too large
12-15 fresh basil leaves
Roughly 0,5 cup alfalfa sprouts
METHOD:
Soak cashews in boiling water for 30 minutes to soften them up. Then drain them and add them to the bowl of a food processor with an s-blade.
Peel and cut the garlic into smaller pieces and add them to the food processor bowl along with the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and process until it makes a more or less smooth paste. If you find the mixture does not a smooth paste add a teaspoon of water at a time until you reach that texture. Then remove from the bowl and set aside.
Add walnuts, sundried tomatoes in oil, soy sauce and spices to the food processor bowl. No need to clean it in between. Pulse the machine until you reach a mince like consistency. Taste and season as needed.
Mandolin, or you could use a knife to slice, courgette lengthwise. The slices should be thin enough to roll without breaking so only a couple of millimeters.
Lay the slices in a single layer onto a flat surface. Spread a couple of teaspoons of each filling onto each slice. Then place one basil leaf at one end of each slice and about a tbsp of alfalfa sprouts on top of the basil leaf.
Roll each slice, starting from the basil leaf, until it is a tight roll up. Use toothpicks to secure the rolls if you wish.
Serve as a side dish, starter or a festive canapé.