Gently sautee mushrooms until their juices are released, then stir until the juices have evaporated, so that you have slightly juicy mushrooms but without liquid in the pan. 

In a food processor, process the sun dried tomatoes, just a few pulses, then add the onions and leeks and pulse some more, taking care to scrape down the edges of the bowl into the center. Now add the ground sunflower, mushrooms, and the remaining ingredients, and pulse for a few seconds – don’t over process, this step is just so you can  incorporate the ingredients together. You should be left with a semi thickish ball.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, take the eggplant slices and grill them on a griddle, brushed with olive oil (optional) and seasoned with smoked paprika, salt, & pepper, until they are soft and able to bend without breaking.

When your mushroom filling is ready it is time to make your cannelloni. Place your cooked eggplant slices out flat. Line each slice with a generous layer of basil  or baby spinach leaves. Then, place a dollop of filling at one end of the eggplant and roll it up so that the entire eggplant slice rolls around and holds the filling in place…you now have a vegan cannelloni!

Repeat until all filling is used up. One large eggplant should be just enough for the amount of filling in this recipe. Reserve your cannelloni in an airtight container, or proceed to the cooking stage:

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven proof baking dish. Place the cannelloni in the dish, and spoon some tomato sauce over each cannelloni.

Bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the filling is soft, simmering, and cooked through. Enjoy immediately with a side salad, brown rice, or quinoa pasta with greens.