Every summer I get a few emails asking me what to do with a prolific amount of zucchini someone has growing in their garden (waving at you, Rosie!). My first thought is why are people so amazing at growing stuff that they don’t know what to do with the excess while I struggle to keep a single plant alive…I’m so jealous. The truth is I am guilty of not putting in consistent enough effort into growing stuff so I reap what I sow…hahahaha, literally nothing, nada at the moment.

Anyways, I digress, the point I was trying to make is that I dedicate this recipe to you lovely zucchini growers and zucchini lovers, like myself. It uses a lot of zucchini (hence double in the title) and so I hope it will help people with ‘have too much zucchini growing’ predicament. I was inspired by the fact that traditional involtini or cannelloni filling often contains spinach, which similarily to zucchini is quite watery and bland on its own so I thought why not add sauteed zucchini to the filling as well as use it as a way of wrapping the filling?

Having tried it, I am quite fond of this dish, it’s fresh and light. I was initially thinking of using a combination of tofu and cashews in my filling (like in this involtini recipe), but in the interest of keeping things simple, I’ve stuck to tofu. I also began some strength training to help my body face aging so I will take all the protein I can get as long as it’s plant protein. If you’d rather use creamy cashews, feel free to make the swap, both work really well.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

ZUCCHINI / COURGETTE – I used zucchini (courgettes) in two ways in this dish hence ‘double zucchini involtini’. I grated some, pan-fried and incorporated into the filling and cut some into long slices, charred lightly and used as a wrapper.

TOMATOES – I used quality plum tomatoes in a can as I find that they are more flavoursome than other types of canned tomatoes. I squashed the tomatoes with a potato masher first (you could do that in a pan too, I suppose but I prefer to use a large bowl as it can get messy otherwise) so that the sauce only needs about 30 minutes before going into the oven. You could also use ripe fresh tomatoes, but they do tend to be more watery so you’ll need to simmer them down for much longer.

TOFU – use firm cotton (which basically means porous, as opposed to silken) tofu. I used a brand that does not require pressing, but if your tofu is quite waterlogged, simply squeeze excess moisture out with your hands. If you are not keen on tofu, you can use equivalent amount of raw cashews (soaked in boiling water for 20 minutes). If using cashews, you may need to add a splash of water or plant milk to the mixture when processing.

MISO – This Japanese seasoning is a staple flavour enhancer that is widely used in vegan cooking. If you haven’t got a jar of it yet, it’s worth getting. It’s very versatile and keeps for ages.

NUTRITIONAL YEAST – Nutritional yeast (often lovingly referred to as ‘nooch’) adds a bit of umami to things. I love using it and used it here, in small amounts, to amp up the flavour of the filling.

CAPERS – I love capers, these little pickled flower buds add so much flavour and they work really beautifully here. You can either add them directly to the food processor and blend with the remaining ingredients or you can chop them up and stir through the filling at the end to get surprising pops of flavour here and there.

BASIL & MINT – I flavoured the filling with a little bit of fresh basil and a small amount of dry mint. You can also use one or the other, whatever tastes good to you.

Transfer canned tomatoes and their juices into a large bowl and squash them down well to be able to make the sauce quicker. Allow them to simmer with a little olive oil and garlic for about 30 minutes while you prep the involtini.

Sautée sqeezed out grated zucchini in a pan with some olive oil and spring onions, then add them to a food processor with the remaining filling ingredients.

Adjust the seasoning of your filling to taste and char zucchini slices on one side to soften them and to partially cook them (and to make them look pretty once rolled!).

Place zucchini slices charred side down, place a heaped teaspoon of the filling at the widest end and wrap the slice around it firmly.

Arrange zucchini involtini in the pan with tomato sauce, seam down. Sprinkle with coarse breadcrumbs and pine nuts (or flaked almonds) on top if you wish. Bake until golden.