Vegan Eggplant Involtini with Rustic Tomato Sauce

Spicy eggplant, creamy filling, and a tart tomato sauce make this one delicious dish. Eggplant involtini are usually stuffed with ricotta cheese, but this version uses a combination of cashews and nutritional yeast for a slightly sweet filling that pairs nicely with the eggplant and isn't nearly as heavy as cheese. LCBF and I ate every last one.

The recipe is based on this one from Food & Wine. I had a very good version of it at a friend's BBQ last summer and have been meaning to try it myself. It's not quite grilling weather here yet, so I roasted the eggplant in the oven and made a few changes/substitutions. Recipe after the jump.


Vegan Eggplant Involtini with Rustic Tomato Sauce
2 small to medium eggplants
2 small ripe tomatoes, quartered
1 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbl. sundried, salted tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic
olive oil
salt & fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Wash eggplant and slice lengthwise into about eight 1/4" strips. Cube any extra eggplant. Salt both sides of eggplant strips/cubes and place on paper towels to sweat for 15-20 minutes (sweating the eggplant decreases bitterness and prevents it from soaking up tons of oil).

Sweaty!

While eggplant is sweating, make filling by placing 1 cup raw cashews, 1/4 c. water, and 1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast into the bowl of a food processor. Process until a paste forms. Stir in sundried tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cashew Filling

Rinse eggplant and place slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. brush both sides with olive oil. Place quartered tomatoes, eggplant cubes, and garlic cove in a baking dish. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Roast strips and tomato mixture in a 375F oven for 15-20 min. Keep an eye on the eggplant so it doesn't burn.

When eggplant is nicely browned, pull the strips and the tomato mixture out of the oven and let cool slightly (only for a few minutes).

Now you're ready to assemble the involtini! Place a small scoop of the cashew filling in the middle of an eggplant strip, wrap both sides around it and flip it over into a serving dish so it stays in one piece. Repeat for the rest of the strips.

Make "rustic" tomato sauce by using a fork to smash tomatoes and mix them together with the eggplant cubes and garlic clove (be sure to peel it first!) in the baking dish.

Take it out of the oven . . .

And smash it all up!

Spoon the sauce over involtini and serve.

Awesomely Delicious!