Fresh Rolls & Peanut Sauce

This dish is a great way to impress whoever is sharing your meal – not only because it looks rather cool, also because it’s a healthy snack!

You can use a large variety of ingredients inside the rolls: avocado, grilled courgettes, or tofu will also work nicely in there. You can serve with the peanut sauce, as well as soy sauce and some wasabi peas.

The rolling process may take a couple of attempts to master, so don’t be discouraged if your first try doesn’t make for a perfect roll! You can find the rice paper and glass noodles in specialist shops, these are the ones I tend to use:

RECIPE

Type: Vegan

Approx. Preparation time: 10 mins

Approx. Cooking & Assembly time: 20 mins

Makes: 10 to 12 fresh rolls and a small pot of peanut sauce

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce:

• Half a cup of plain peanuts
• A pinch of Paprika
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 1 to 1.5 cups of Freshly boiled water
• Half a teaspoon of rapeseed oil

Fresh Rolls:

• 10 to 12 rice paper sheets
• 50g glass rice noodles
• 1 quarter of a cucumber
• 1 small carrot
• 3 spring onions
• A handful of fresh mint leaves
• Optional – some soy sauce, to serve

Preparation Steps

1. Mix the peanuts, the oil, the paprika, salt and pepper, until the spices and oil are homogeneously covering the peanuts
2. Chop the cucumber, the spring onions and the carrot in thin sticks
3. Wash the fresh mint and keep the leaves whole
4. Boil some water with a pinch of salt. When the water is boiling, add the rice noodles to the pan and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes, until the noodles have turned transparent and slippery. Sieve the noodles and keep aside

Cooking Steps

Peanut Sauce:

1. Heat a small pan on high heat.
2. When the pan is hot, add the peanuts. Mix constantly, swirling the peanuts around the pan
3. The peanuts will start making little popping sounds – cook for another minute
4. Switch the heat to medium and add half a cup of freshly boiled water to the pan
5. Cook for 2 to 3 mins or until the peanuts are soft
6. Taste and adjust add salt, pepper or paprika as needed
7. Switch off the heat but leave the pan on the hob – leave to cool for a couple of minutes
8. Add another half cup of freshly boiled water to the peanuts
9. Blend into a smooth paste. Once the mixture is blended, you can adjust its consistency as needed:
   • If the mixture is too liquid, pop on the hob for another couple of minutes, stirring all the time until the sauce thickens
   • If the mixture is too thick, add freshly boiled water little by little and mix thoroughly until the consistency is right
10. Leave the sauce aside to cool

Fresh Rolls:

1. Prepare your rolling station:
   • put all the chopped vegetables and the mint on a plate, within easy reach
   • place the rice paper sheets and the glass noodles within easy reach
   • pour some freshly boiled water in a bowl-y plate
   • place an empty serving plate next to you
   • place a chopping board in front of you
2. Soak the rice paper in the hot water for a few seconds, until the paper turns soft and sippery
3. Place the paper on the chopping board
4. Place some noodles in the centre of the paper. Top with the vegetables and finish with a fresh mint leave
5. Fold the bottom side of the paper upwards, towards the centre of the sheet
6. Fold the top side of the paper downwards, towards the centre of the sheet
7. Fold the right side of the paper towards the left, towards the centre of the sheet
8. Roll the roll towards the left, tightening it as much as possible
9. Repeat this process until you run out of ingredients
10. Serve at room temperature with some peanut sauce and soy sauce on the side

The steps in pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makes 10-12 rolls

Boil water with salt

Add rice noodles to water when boiling and cook for three mins

Sieve

Chop carrot, cucumber and spring onions in thin sticks

Wash mint and keep leaves whole