Vegan Pea Pesto & Sun-Dried Tomato Cannelloni
This creamy Vegan Pea Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Cannelloni dish is stuffed to the brim with flavour. Topped with your favourite pasta sauce, and baked for a perfect, chilly weeknight dinner.
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Introduction
Cannelloni is the saucier, better looking, better tasting, slightly more high-maintenance cousin of lasagna that will keep you coming back for more. This tubular pasta takes a bit more work from the get-go, but once it’s in the oven, you’re golden, and you won’t look back. Plus, food always tastes better when you put a little bit of work in first.
The art of cannelloni is all in the filling - and the perfect one is in this recipe. We’re throwing everything into a blender, making a cream sauce, and putting the two together. Simple, right? After that, roll up your sleeves for about five minutes, fill the cannelloni with the sauce, line them up in a deep baking tray, and top with pasta sauce.
In 20 minutes, you’ll be kicking it on the couch, binge-watching the 7th episode of your favourite show, with a forkful of cannelloni in one hand, and the remote in the other, telling Netflix that yes, you are still watching. Not only is this the perfect meal for pretty much any night of the week, it also makes loads. so you can throw it in a Tupperware and reheat for lunch or dinner tomorrow (or breakfast - this is a judgement-free zone).
The secret to this dish is to take your time while you’re filling your cannelloni tubes. Don’t sweat it if they get messy - mine were a total disaster, I’ve got two left hands. Fill them up as much as you can. It’s more important to have some cannelloni filled well than it is to have lots, filled halfway. One trick I used to keep the tubes steady was to place a sun-dried tomato on the cutting board, and press the tubes, standing up, into the tomato. It keeps them from wiggling around while you’re filling them.
Check out the Spruce it Up section for ideas on how to take this recipe to the next level.
Before we Get Started
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes
Yield: 4-5 Servings
Ingredients
Pasta Sauce
Of Choice
2/3 cup of Peas
If frozen, run under some water to defrost them
Few leaves of Basil
Few leaves of Mint
1/2 Onion
1 clove of Garlic
1/3 cup of Water
Cannelloni
Handful of Spinach
1/3 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes
150g Raw Cashews
Splash of Lemon Juice
3 tbsp. Oil
3 tbsp. Flour
1.5 cup Dairy-Free Milk
Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
To make your pesto, combine your peas, basil, mint, garlic, water, spinach, cashews, lemon juice, and a three-finger pinch of salt into a blender, and blend until smooth. Taste, and add more salt if needed.
A “three-finger pinch” of salt is however much salt you can hold in three fingers when you pinch it.
If your pesto is too thick, add some more water, and blend again!
Preheat a pot over medium heat, with a drizzle of oil. Finely dice your onion. Measure out your oil and your flour. When the pot comes to temperature, add your onion, as well as a good pinch of salt. Stir until translucent.
Once your onion is translucent, add your oil in, as well as your flour, and whisk constantly. Continue to whisk for approximately 1-2 minutes.
Pour in your dairy-free milk, and continue whisking until the sauce thickens.
To check if your consistency is right, try “ribboning” the sauce. Give it a whisk, then lift it up so that the sauce drizzles on itself. If it leaves a trail on the surface of the sauce, you’ve got the perfect consistency. If it disappears quickly, continue whisking over heat for another minute or so, then try again!
Pour your pesto into your cream sauce, and mix to incorporate them together.
Dice your sun-dried tomatoes, and add them to the sauce.
Grab your cannelloni, your sauce, and a teaspoon. Stand a cannelloni tube up, and spoon in the sauce, bit-by-bit, all the way to the top. Lay it flat in a deep baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the cannelloni tubes until you run out of sauce.
Lay them out in a deep baking tray, and top with your favourite pasta sauce, then toss them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
Enjoy.
Spruce it Up
Top with vegan Parmesan if you have any on hand.
The spinach in the pesto can be switched out for any leafy green - kale, collard greens, and Swiss chard work great.
Add some vegan cheese to your cream sauce before adding in your pesto to give it an extra boost of flavour