It’s basil season! And spinach season! And, well, let’s just say it’s lasagna roll season, too.
These make a great appetizer if you’re doing a little summer entertaining, or a filling entree if you prefer. Tofu ricotta is elevated with the addition of some Pumpkin Seed Pesto. The mellow flavor of pumpkin seeds really lets the basil shine. The sautéed spinach is really really garlicky, as is the pesto, so this makes the perfect date night meal.
What I really love, besides how flavorful these are, is the texture. Baking the rolls makes the noodles soft but still toothsome, with little crunchy bits on the edges. Smothered in cashew cream and pesto and finished off with a scattering of additional pumpkin seeds, these lasagna rolls will fulfill even the most wild fantasies: creamy, crunchy, velvety, chewy, and hearty all at once. Yes, there are a few components here, but none are too difficult to pull off and also LASAGNA ROLLS.
Serve with Caesar Salad to round out the meal!
PS This is my first blogpost using only iPhone photos, so take a deep breath with me. Sorry $2000 camera, this is just easier. Since I’m not an aspiring photographer, I’m not ashamed to admit that adjusting lighting and apertures and editing in Photoshop is just too labor intensive for me these days. A few adjustments in VSCO cam, a button to upload to Flickr, and my work is done here. You get the picture. Har har.
Notes
~You don’t need all of the lasagna noodles called for, but go ahead and boil the whole package to account for some breakage. Saute the leftovers and broken ones for dinner the next night.
~The amount of ricotta made is just enough to fill the rolls, so go easy with the taste testing and don’t overfill the rolls, or you might not get ten out of the deal.
~I put the pesto in a little plastic bag with a hole cut out of the corner to pipe it nicely over the rolls. Then just spread it a bit with a spoon and it’s real pretty like.
~I make the white sauce before the pesto to cut down on cleaning a little bit. You can pour the white sauce out and then just rinse the blender without having to do a major cleaning, since who cares if a little bit of cashew cream ends up in your pesto.
Ingredients
12 oz lasagna noodles
For the white sauce:
1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the pesto:
2 cloves garlic
3 cups fresh basil, loosely packed
1/2 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), plus extra for garnish
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Several dashes fresh black pepper
For the ricotta:
1 14 oz extra firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 cup pesto
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the spinach:
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz baby spinach
Directions
Make the noodles:
Bring a big pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles al dente, stirring occasionally to make sure they don’t stick together. If they seem to be, use metal tongs to gently peel them apart. Once cooked, drain them in a colander and run them under plenty of cold water to make sure they stop cooking and don’t stick together.
Make the white sauce:
Drain cashews. In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until completely smooth. This could take 1 to 5 minutes depending on your blender. Scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula every minute or so to make sure you get everything. Set aside.
Make the pesto:
Place garlic cloves in a blender and pulse a bit to chop. Add basil, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice salt and pepper and blend. It should still have some texure and not be completely smooth. Thin with a few tablespoons of water to get it into a spreadable consistency.
Make the ricotta:
In a medium mixing bowl, mash tofu with your hands or an avocado masher, until it resembles ricotta cheese. Mix in pesto, nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice and salt until well combined. Set aside.
Make the spinach:
Preheat a large heavy bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium low heat. Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach and cook, stirring often, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
Assemble and bake:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish with olive oil.
Spread 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each lasagna noodle, leaving a little room around the side edges and 1/2 inch at each end.
Scatter about 3 tablespoons of spinach mixture over the ricotta. Starting at the bottom end, roll noodle up and place, seam side down, in the casserole dish. Continue with all remaining noodles. Pour the white sauce over the rolls in thick ribbons.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are lightly browned and white sauce is thickened. If after 25 minutes the rolls are not browning but the edges are crispy, place under a broiler on low heat for a minute or two, keeping a very close eye so that they don’t burn.
Remove from oven and smother on remaining pesto. Garnish with additional pumpkin seeds and serve!
Excellent recipe! Was also great as leftovers the next day. Thanks!
Ohhh your lasagna rolls are wonderfull ! , i’ll do it on my son’s birthday party. Thanks.
My Calorie Blog,
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I love rools. It is so delicious. Thank for sharing. I’m going to try it now
Excellent recipe, my husband made this it was to die for.
We’ve had this several times…only did rolls the first time made it as a lasagna thereafter (because I have a toddler and a lasagna is just faster!) We all love this dish and every time I make it I’m surprised at the fullness of the flavors with the simple ingredients. Definitely a winner in our house!
I hardly ever leave comments on blogs. BUT. I just have to this time. I first encountered this recipe through a friend. He chose this to cook as dinner for that night. It has since become a go-to recipe for me and by far my favorite lasagna of all time. Not to mention everyone who has had it (mostly meat eaters!) falls in love with it as well. Best. Lasagna. Ever. EVER.
Ok…
#1: THESE LOOK AMAZING AND I CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE THEM.
#2: Don’t feel bad about the iPhone photos… I’ve got two college degrees that say I’m a “professional photographer” and I only use an iPhone in the kitchen too! Focus on the cooking I say!
yummy recipe 🙂 , i will try it at home, wish me luck.
Just made these and wow! Totally impressed my dinner guests AND the 5 year old gave it 10 thumbs up (if you can imagine that) and the 1 year old probably ate half a roll all on her own! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe- it will definitely be a repeat in this household!
These were more work than I’m used to (lazy vegan), but I ate this every night for dinner for the entire work week and NEVER ONCE got tired of it, so it’s obviously way worth it. soooooo delicious. going to try it as a regular lasagna instead of rolls next time! thank you thank you!
I don’t know if I should love you for making such amazingly delicious recipes or hate you because I’ll always have curves on my body with these recipes!!!
I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since you posted a recipe on The PPK… I know you’re busy with your restaurant but, for those of us who don’t iive in Nebraska, please keep it up if you can!!
Oh my gosh! This looks wonderful! Thank you for sharing this recipe – and I will most definitely be nosing around this website! 🙂
Yum, these look amazing! I’m always looking for another way to eat basil pesto, these will be my next adventure!
Yum, these look amazing! I’m always looking for another way to eat basil pesto, these will be my next adventure!
This looks absolutely wonderful! I will definitely be making these for my family on Fathers Day:) Thank you so much for sharing!
I love Lasagne Roll-Ups. I love you.
These are by far the most delicious thing I’ve eaten in awhile! Will definitely be making these again! Thank you:)
Wow, I am not a Vegan, but if my meals turn out like this I might just jump on board!
I just made these for dinner last night. They were divine and oh so dreamy… thanks for the recipe Isa!
These were fairly easy to make. I did have trouble with my noodles so I think next time manicotti or cannelloni shells. i added a bit of nutmeg to the cream sauce for little extra flavor.
Your photos look great. It make me rush to make the dish right after I finish my comment. I like rolled food more exactly cooking with some things related to rolling or wrapping. Love the way the food is rolled and love the ingredient being rolled inside as well. Hope mine will be as great as yours. I’m gonna share when it’s made.
These look fantastic-iPhone or not. Can’t wait to try them this weekend!
I’m new to Vegan cooking and this was very tasty. Only change I would make is to have more spinach. It made a LOT for just a two person household. Time to take some to neighbors. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
yummm!!!!!!! the photos are great and made my mouth water ! i want to make this tonight for my freinds, how long did it take you to make and cook ?
Are the cashews raw or boiled?
Are the cashews raw or boiled?
I made it this last night and it was amazing!!! Thanks Isa!!
Delicious!!! I would have no qualms serving these even to non-vegan friends.
I made this for an annual vegan thanksgiving (where vegans & non vegans partake) and this was a hit! So easy too, as I made the sauces and fillings the day before. Well done Isa, this is rich and so satisfying! (That cashew white sauce, so simple & so good).
Fantastic! My non-vegan guests could not figure out how this was “dairy-free”. “But the ricotta…but the cream sauce…whaaaat???” We will make this many more times.
These were easy to prep and super tasty, but OMG were they horrendous to roll and then tediously place into the baking pan. By the last one I was so frustrated that I just scooped up what was left of it and mushed it into the pan. haha
This looks so amazingly delicious and healthy! Thank you for sharing!
Isa, could all the components be made ahead of time and assembled on the day of? Thanks and this recipe looks awesome.
Holy YUM! Finally made this last night. Husband FREAKED OUT, they were so good. I only had a ten oz pack of brown rice lasagna which worked well except one corner of the dish wasn’t rolls, more like tofu ricotta and broken noodles kinda thrown in there. Masked that corner with white sauce anyway, so you couldn’t even notice. I’m sure this one is going into weekly rotation now…
These look super delicious and I can’t wait to make them! The person who I’m going to feed these to has a nut allergy. The iPhone photos look great! Sorry the lasagna rolls ruined your day, but they seem perfect for a weekend dinner,
Hopefully they survived!! You say that they have a nut allergy, so WHY would you make this for them?? It uses 2 CUPS OF CASHEWS. Did you use something instead,?
Amazing delicious recipe !Surely I will try this in the weekend.Shall I will try this with Rucola pesto instead of basil as i have not found basil around my surrounding. Please reply.
Hello Isha Chamdra! this looks scrumptious. This is new for me and I am eager to try this divine and healthy recipe. I made my mind now this will be my coming weekends menu item. Thanks for sharing new recipe.
Lasagna Rolls look super delicious and I can’t wait to make them! The person who I’m going to feed these to has a nut allergy.
OUTSTANDING! You are amazing!
Clear, informative, simple. Love your post!
This will be my first attempt ever to make anything like this!!! I am so excited to try this and shgare with my best friend and her family!! Will let you know how it goes!
It looks nasty. I keep seeing the post about a miraculous weight loss drink but when I click it I get these food recipes. So what’s the big deal?
Not what I clicked on.
also NOT what I clicked on
I like picture.
These look super delicious and I can’t wait to make them!
Yummmmo. ..can’t hardly wait to try it….