SWEET BASIL PESTO TAPENADE SCROLLS

 

I often want a savoury snack around 4pm but I can't really eat chips or any of those junk food items as I find the flavourings to strong. They can leave me filling a bit ill and my quick naughty snack comes back to haunt me. So I decided the other day that I needed to make my own snacks for when an afternoon snack attack hits. I used to love cheesy, pesto scrolls before I was vegan and thought I can make those. I can make them vegan, that’s easy. So that’s what I did. I found a recipe for Sweet Basil Pesto Tapenade in Veganomicon and thought it would be perfect for a scroll. I was worried that a lot of pesto shoved in a scroll may make my snack to acidic, so the use of maple syrup to sweeten it up was a perfect solution. I used my herbed pizza dough recipe to form the scroll and changed the dried herbs in the recipe to compliment the pesto. These turned out great. The sweet pesto worked wonders and I left some of the walnuts chunky which added lovely depth to the scrolls. These are great warm or cold but most importantly perfect for snack time. Although I am eating one for breakfast right now.

Sweet Basil Pesto Tapenade Scrolls

Ingredients:

• Sweet Basil Pesto Tapenade (recipe below)
• Herby Pizza Dough with 1/2 tsp dried basil and 1/2 tsp dried tarragon instead of the other herbs

Directions:

1.	Once the dough has risen, punch down and leave for 10 minutes. Make the filling by mixing together ingredients above for filling.
2.	Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll/press out dough to form a 12 by 18 inch rectangle. Spread half the  pesto (or more) onto the rolled out dough. Try to get the pesto right to the edge. There is no hard and fast rule here. Cover the dough with as much pesto as you would like, to make either a light or heavy flavoured scroll.
3.	Roll from the long side. Go slowly and get it as tight as possible, using a little water to pinch the seam together and seal.
4.	Oil or spray a baking sheet with raised edges and cut the roll into 12 pieces. To cut into 12, cut the roll into quarters and then each quarter into thirds. Place cut side down on the baking sheet giving them room to breathe. Cover with a towel and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes; the rolls should look not quite doubled in size.
5.	Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C . Bake 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned and puffy. Serve as soon as you can or let cool and store in an air tight container for a delicious snack.

Sweet Basil Pesto Tapenade

This recipe makes enough pesto tapenade for two batches of scrolls.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
  
• 150g walnut pieces (or chopped halves)
  
• 2-4 cloves garlic
  
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1/4 cup walnut oil, or just more olive oil
  
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
  
• 1 tsp grated fresh lemon zest
  
• 1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
  
• Black pepper
  

Directions:

1.

Set aside about 25g walnut pieces. Chop the basil, garlic, and most of the walnuts in food processor until chunky, stopping often to scrape the sides. Add oil(s), maple syrup, and lemon zest, and process until thick and creamy. Stir in reserved walnut pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Can be stored in a glass jar with a thin layer of olive oil on top until ready to serve.

Vegan MoFo 2010 Day 17

The Sweet Basil Pesto Tapenade recipe comes from:

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero