Vegan Spinach and Leek “Cannelloni” (dairy, grain & gluten free)
So, good news, all you eggplant and mushroom haters can still have yummy Italian baked pasta dishes, thanks to the humble leek. I had a few in the fridge because I really couldn’t be bothered cleaning them (honesty is the best policy), so thought hmm they are round tubes, let’s try a cannelloni !
Turned out great. Well worth the time, although I was actually surprised at the lack of effort needed. I thought it would be a long drawn out recipe that only Heston could decifer at the end from my handwritten notes, but it was actually pretty straight forward and with a bit of multi-tasking, it took 1hr 15 mins from start to finish including cooking time. Not bad.
Left a day or two in the fridge, flavours develop and it’s even better ! So if you are looking for a super filling main meal, Italian in flavour, that tastes similiar to the real deal minus the “cheese” of the ricotta and topping, give this a whirl ! (or if your leeks are banking up like mine wink wink)
- 4 tbs olive oil
- 2 leeks
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups cauliflower chopped plus 1/2 cup cauliflower (riced) extra
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 1 400g tin low salt and sugar crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbs stock powder (optional)
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Wash leeks and trim off the tough, leafy tops and roots. Gently, yet firmly, push the centre layers of the leeks up and out, so you are left with the outer tubes. Blanch in a saucepan for 2 mins and then cool. Cut the tubes long end to end so they flatten out like lasagne sheets.
- In a frypan over medium heat add 3 tbs olive oil. Finely chop the leftover inner layers of the leek and cook in the oil along with the dry herbs and garlic. Add chopped cauliflower and cook for a further 10 mins until tender. Blitz until mashed but still chunky. Add washed spinach and 1/2 cup water and cook until wilted. Season and put mixture in the fridge to cool for 5 mins.
- Mix the extra riced cauliflower with the stock and 1 tbs olive oil. Let sit.
- In a casserole dish spread 1/3 tinned tomatoes on the base. Lay out the leek sheets and place a roll of the filling then roll into tubes. Put them in the baking dish. Top with the rest of the tomatoes and finally the cauliflower crumb. Bake for approx. 30 mins and/or until the crumbs turn golden. Enjoy !
- You can add other ingredients to your tomato sauce to go over the top if you are inclined or make a complete Napolitana pasta sauce. I just decided to keep it simple as there is a lot of flavour in the cannelloni themselves.
- This is a US based scoring system, so notes fibre as a sub category of carbs, so you need to minus fibre to get the total carb count for the Australian & NZ calculation
