I absolutely love this dish! It’s so summery and packed with gorgeous fresh flavours! The aubergine involtini with the tofu ricotta are winners and they are also great on their own with a simple salad on the side. The walnut and kale pesto is a favourite of mine, perfect with pasta or with courgetti as served in this recipe. 

This plant-based feast is perfect for dinners al fresco or a BBQ with friends and when it comes to finding a drink to pair to this dish, nothing says summer like an iced cold beer. If like me, you are not a big drinker, you may like to try one of the growing number of low or no alcoholic beers that are now available.  I have matched this meal with Krombacher Low Alcohol Pils which is from an independent, family run brewery in Germany.  The beer is brewed in accordance with the German Brewing Laws which means only four ingredients can be used (hops, barley, yeast, water) and no nasties, ensuring the beers are pure, natural and suitable for vegans.  The brewery uses a special two-step process to extract the alcohol resulting in a lager that retains a full flavour and crisp, refreshing finish but without the hit of alcohol. To find Krombacher’s award-winning array of low and no alcohol beers, visit www.drydrinker.com 

Ingredients:

Serves 2

For the Courgetti:

1 large courgette 

For the pesto:

1/3 cup of walnuts 

1 cup of lightly steamed kale 

A generous handful of basil leaves 

The juice of 1/2 lemon 

1 garlic clove -crushed 

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast 

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil + a dash of water to blitz

Salt and pepper to taste 

For the Aubergine involtini:

1 large aubergine 

1 teaspoon of miso paste 

The juice of 1/2 lemon 

1 teaspoon of olive oil 

For the tofu ricotta:

1 block of firm tofu (about 200gr)

1 1/2 tablespoon tahini

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 1/2 teaspoon white miso

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 small shallot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric (optional)

Start by making the tofu ricotta: in a bowl, combine tofu, tahini, garlic, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, miso, lemon juice, pepper, shallot and parsley. Mash together with the back of a spoon until ingredients are incorporated. Place in the fridge while you are preparing the rest.

Spiralize the courgette. To make the pesto simply place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a creamy and smooth consistency. Mix the pesto with the courgetti making sure everything is coated. Divide them between two plates and leave them to one side while you are cooking the aubergine.

Cut the aubergine into thin strips lengthways. Mix the miso paste, lemon juice and olive oil and brush the aubergine on both sides with the mixture. Heat up a griddle pan and cook the aubergine onto each side for about 2 minutes until they are slightly soft. 

Top each aubergine strip with about 1/2 tablespoon of the tofu ricotta. Roll them over and close them with a tooth pick. Serve them on top of the pesto courgette and enjoy! 

If you have any leftover aubergine or the tofu ricotta store them in an airtight container in the fridge for few days.