^{(Served with a little rocket/arugula, leftover roasted pepper}

^{and dressing of white balsamic vinegar and a good extra virgin oil.)}

This week I’ve got an extra special recipe to coincide with Fatfree Vegan Kitchen’s Vegetable Love 2008 competiton. I’ve been concocting this recipe in my head for a couple of days, tweaking the flavours, before coming up with this great combination and best of all, it’s vegan. Not only is it vegan, it’s low in fat with only a little amount of oil.

The competition itself is to come up with a romantic dish for Valentine’s Day. I think this is certainly a sultry dish to serve to the one you love. It also brings a little unsuspecting heat just near the end, which could certainly represent your relationship with your other half!

The cannelloni here is homemade, which does take a little more time – it’s well worth it – but if you are running short of time, use some vegan lasagne sheets or cannelloni tubes and some packaged pesto also.

Serves:

• makes 15 rolls of cannelloni

Ingredients:

• 3 red capsicums

Pasta

• 1 cup “00″ flour or plain white flour
• 2/3 cup wholemeal flour
• pinch salt
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 cup warm water

“Cheese” filling

• 300 grams firm tofu, drained
• 1 tbs nutritional yeast flakes (for stronger flavour add 2 tbs)
• pinch salt

Sauce

• 1/3 onion finely diced
• pinch white pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic mince
• pinch salt
• 1 small chilli, finely diced
• a little water or you could use rice milk (for thinner mixture)

Pesto

• 1 tsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 3 handfuls arugula/rocket, rinsed and squeezed dry
• 15 grams pine nuts
• 1/2 tsp garlic mince
• 1 small chilli
• 2 tsp capers
• 1tbs olive oil
• pinch white pepper
• a little water or you could use rice milk (for a thinner mixture)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius or 355 fahrenheit.
2. In a wide jug, pour the flour and salt in, stirring thoroughly. Mix in the water and oil, until a dough has formed. Pull the dough out and knead for a minute before wrapping and setting aside.
3. Slice the peppers into their sides and place on a flame to roast (either on your barbecue or gas stove) until blackened. If you have neither, you can roast in the oven. Place in a large container covered tight for 5 minutes.
4. Drain the tofu and place into a container. Mash the tofu down and mix in the nutritional yeast and salt. Set this aside now also.
5. Once the pepper has softened, wash the blackened skin off the peppers and slice very thinly into long strips.
6. Place the diced onion in a pot with the garlic, chilli and olive oil. Saute until soft, pouring the 3/4 of the roasted peppers in. Saute once again, seasoning, before turning the heat off and vitamising the mixture down with your blender. Add a little water to help reduce to a sauce.
7. In a clean blender, mix all of the ingredients for the pesto, using water to thin the sauce down and blend properly.
8. Boil some water adding a little salt in the pot.
9. Cut the dough into thirds and flatten to fit into the wide setting of a pasta machine.  Using your pasta machine, do the following with the dough:
   1. Place through piece on highest setting three times, turning upside down each time.
   2. Place through setting number two for two to three times.
   3. Place through setting number five for two times.
   4. Slice into rectangles.
10. Boil the rectangle sheets in the pot, a couple at a time for around 30 seconds to a minute. Pull out and rinse. Repeat until complete.
11. Place the rectangle sheets out and spread a teaspoon of pesto, then tofu, a couple of the remaining pepper slices and then roll. Place each roll in a casserole dish side by side.
12. Pour a little of the pepper sauce on top of the cannellonis and place in the oven for twelve minutes.
13. Carefully slide a spatula underneath the cannelloni, transferring to your serving plate.
14. Layer with pepper sauce, a dollop of your leftover pesto and some capers before serving.