These spinach & tofu 'ricotta' rolls are definitely a crowd pleaser. Delicious, dairy-free and 100% vegan. They're really easy to make and you can freeze them for future use.
You will need firm tofu that will crumble and you can find vegan puff pastry in most supermarkets - check the ingredients.
Recipe:
makes 10 to 12 rolls (depending on how much filling you put in each)
1 block of firm tofu (375g)
300g fresh baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp nutritional yeast/savoury yeast flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
6 frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
Method:
1. In a large pan, cook the spinach until wilted, this should only take a couple of minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the tofu which you can crumble with your hands, then the garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix it well so all ingredients are blended.
3. This is optional but I like to then transfer it to my processor and blend it very quickly (about 10 seconds) to further breakdown the spinach but if you don't have a blender you can skip this step, you could use a fork to loosen up the spinach and mix it through.
4. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
5. Take your thawed puff pastry sheets and cut them in half length wise, so you have 2 long sheets to work with per puff pastry sheet. (in Australia our puff pastry sheets come in squares) Place some of the filling in a long line going down the pastry sheet, partly off centre and a little closer to the left so you can roll it. Brush the edges with a bit of water.
6. Start at the edge and roll the pastry over the mixture and continue to roll to seal.
7. Continue with remaining pastry. Once they're all rolled, take a knife and cut them in half. Make small shallow cuts along the top. Place them on a lined baking tray.
8. Brush with more water on top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake them in the oven for about 20 mins until golden on top. Remove from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack for 10 mins or so before serving.