Zucchini Rolls with herbed sun-dried tomato tofu ricotta
These Zucchini rolls are like lasagna roll ups, filled with delicious herbed sun-dried tomato tofu ricotta, nestled in a pan with bubbly tomato ragu and creamy vegan ricotta filling. They looks so pretty! And No watery mess!
Servings: 8
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 10 ounces firm or extra firm tofu
- 3 ounces vegan cream cheese Or more tofu
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb blend
- 1 teaspoon dried basil or use 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons chopped sun dried tomato chop them into really small pieces
- 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella
- 1/4 cup vegan parmesan
For the Zucchini
- 2 or 3 zucchini depending on the number of slices you like and the baking dish you are planning to use
For the Sauce
- 14 ounces pasta sauce or marinara sauce, of choice
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup of veggie grounds or vegan ground beef or cooked lentils
For the Topping
- 1/4 cup vegan mozzarella or vegan parmesan
- fresh herbs like basil or parsley
- crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
Make the filling.
- Crumble up the tofu and add it to a medium bowl, then add the vegan cream cheese and olive oil and press with a fork. Mix and mash until the mixture is somewhat smooth, then mix in all of the spices, herbs, and sun dried tomato.
- Add the vegan cheeses, and press and mix again to make a homogenous mixture.
Prepare the zucchini and sauce.
- Slice the zucchini into thin slices using a vegetable peeler. It's okay if some of the slices are not even and are shorter or missing some edges. I usually use two slices per roll, because not all slices are equally sized, which is fine. If one of the zucchini slices is fatter than the other, then you want to slice the edges a little bit, so that most of the rollups have a similar width throughout.
- Before you start to fill up the zucchini, add the pasta sauce to an 8 x 11 “ inch baking dish, then add the rest of the sauce ingredients and mix well and even it out.
- Then, make your rolling station. Take one or two zucchini strips at a time and use a spoon to spread some of the filling onto the zucchini. Leave at least an inch on both ends, so that it's easy to roll. While you're rolling, the filling might shift a little bit, which is why you want to keep an inch towards the other end, as well. Roll up the filled zucchini, then place snugly in the pasta sauce.
- Repeat for all the zucchini strips and fill up your baking dish. You want to keep each roll up pretty close to the others, . Leave a few millimeters between each zucchini roll.
- Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 400° F (205° C) oven.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven, and sprinkle the vegan cheese on top. Cover the baking dish with parchment paper, and put it back to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove the parchment from the top, and bake 5 minutes to brown some of the cheese, you can also broil for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven, let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then garnish with some fresh herbs, like basil, and pepper flakes, if you like, and then serve.
Video
Notes
The total baking time is around 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your zucchini, your baking dish, and the oven and so on.
Zucchini rolls are naturally gluten-free.
To make this soy-free, use soy-free vegan cheese and vegan cream cheese. Omit the tofu and use soaked cashews that you blend up with all of the other filling ingredients, except the sun dried tomatoes. Stir those in at the end, and use that mixture.
To make this nut-free, use vegan cream cheese and vegan cheeses that are nut-free.
Nutrition
Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 696mg | Potassium: 446mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 352IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 2mg