This recipe is my go-to side dish, or component to an easy comforting meal (let’s face it easy, and comforting sounds pretty good at the end of a long day!). It tastes a little like an italian pizza with the delicious marinara sauce, basil and cashew ‘parmesan’, but of course without a base it becomes much lighter, and much more juicy. This recipe works just as well if not better, depending on your veggie preference, with Aubergine instead of zucchini – simply replace it with the same quantity.
The Ingredients
2 large zucchinis (courgettes), halved lengthways
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons minced oregano
4 tabslespoons minced basil (plus extra to garnish)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red onion, minced
A dozen button mushrooms, pealed and sliced
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
FOR THE ‘PARMESAN’:
1/2 cup cashew nuts
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Slice your zuchinnis and place on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive or avocado oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the sauce by first adding the onions, pepper and mushrooms to a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, sauté until well cooked – then add all ingredients to a saucepan and simmer for around 3 minutes. For the ‘parmesan’ process the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Once the zucchini has baked, remove from the oven, spread with sauce and scatter with 1/4 of the parmesan on each half. Put back in the oven and bake for another 5 minutes (or until parmesan starts to brown).
