LOL, living dangerously!
Posted on 01/03/2017 6:29:37 PM PST by JLatnor123
Last week I went to a vegan umami cooking class down in Chelsea. Last time I went to a professional cooking class was a vegan baking class at Blossom Bakery. That was on a Saturday morning, there was plenty of red wine involved, and it was a much smaller class (just 3 students including myself, plus our teacher) so it was very relaxed. This time it was on a Thursday night; it lasted 4 hours; we were divided into 4 teams, each team making 4 dishes with our chef and her assistants swarming around. Talk about intense! But I did learn some really great tips and tricks to enhance umami flavor in vegan eggplant dishes. Stay tuned for more!
One of the dishes we made was a vegan eggplant rollatini. I loved it, but I made some changes to make it easier to recreate at home. Instead of pine nuts, I used cashew to make the “ricotta” cheese. The original recipe also included umeboshi vinegar, but I just used red wine vinegar. I also chose a light purple eggplant instead of the regular Italian eggplant, which made it look even prettier. And I also used nutritional yeast; for some reason the entire umami class was conducted sans noush–probably because it’s not a super sexy ingredient among chefs’ circles. Balsamic vinegar “caviar,” it is not. Well, it has a super sexy taste (in my opinion) and I love it in “cheesy” dishes like this one. And my version was a huge hit! This vegan eggplant recipe is lovely, comforting, and perfect for wowing your guests.
Vegan Eggplant Rollatini
Serves 2 for entree and 4 for appetizer (with plenty of cashew cheese leftovers)
1 large light purple eggplant (regular Italian is also okay, but light purple is prettier)
2 cups marinara sauce
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Cashew cheese
2.5 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 7 hours
2 tsp white miso
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
pinch of raw sugar or another natural sweetener
salt to taste
Basil pesto
3 cups loosely packed basil, chopped roughly
1/3 cup roughly chopped raw walnuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (more to taste)
salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
1. Slice eggplant lengthwise into 1/4″ thin slices. If the eggplant is really long, you can also cut it in half crosswise first. This will make for more bite-sized rolls.
2. In a large bowl, put the eggplant slices and toss with oil, salt, and pepper to coat. Then, either grill the eggplant, about 2-3 minutes on each side or (if you don’t have indoor grill) place the pieces over wire rack, on top of a baking tray, and broil on high for 10 minutes. (I broiled).
3. Meanwhile, put all cashew cheese ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor and process until the texture is very thick and creamy. Set aside.
4. Process all the pesto ingredients together and set aside.
5. To assemble, pour about 3/4 – 1 cup of marinara sauce at the bottom of the baking dish. Add about 1 tbsp each of cashew cheese and pesto to the end of the eggplant piece, and roll from that end to the other end. Place in the baking dish, the loose end down. Finish with the rest of the eggplant slices. Dot the eggplant with remaining sauce and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degree F for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
http://www.peacefuldumpling.com/vegan-eggplant-rollatini
You will die of natural causes. Eat well cooked meat with gusto.
It signed up today to post this vegan garp.
Umami?
On FR?
Well I have no idea what umami or cashew cheese is so I’ll just substitute with meat and real cheese. Lol
Well, you DEFINITELY have no Italian blood in you if you’re willing to substitute some of the most important ingredients with the nonsense in this article.
And I’d go out on a limb and say FR won’t be your cup of “vegan” tea
If I’m wrong, welcome :)
Wow this sounds gross on so many levels. Sweetener in eggplant rollatini? walnuts? basil? yeast? nuts?
Why not just give it a new name...because it ain’t eggplant rollatini.
LOL, living dangerously!
sounds good. I’ll try it.
I’m mostly italian but never got a liking for ricotta cheese.
I’ve made eggplant versions without cheese for a relative who can’t have dairy and I used a layer of chickpeas blended up and seasoned, but the nuts seem a good option too and not add more fiber like the beans.
IBTVZ? (vegan)
Thanks for posting! I’m up for this type of recipe, but you will not find much appreciation for Vegan at FR. Most would rather die gagging down some barbeque slathered char-coated chunk of fetlock rather than try something new.
A warning about raw cashews, which are in this recipe; they contain anacardic acid, which is similar to urishiol, the irritant found in poison ivy. If you are allergic to it can cause problems.
I have to laugh. I can’t imagine the frail lifer these idiots “live” — the think it is eternal life. They all orship food like an idol. They all go to Hades. Obtain a fat steer. Shoot it in the head. Gut it. Skin it, butcher it , cook it well done and eat the SOB!! Then go kill another one!
Are you familiar with the term “screwed the pooch”?
If I am going to enjoy Italian food, I prefer veal parm.
Thank you for this!
BTW, how many glasses of wine did you consume in four hours.
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