Ricotta and Spinach Suffed Manicotti
1 pound firm tofu, drained
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon garlic powder or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup nurtritional yeast flakes
3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 (8 ounce) package manicotti noodles
1 (24 ounce) tomato sauce (I like Barilla Lasagna and Casserole Sauce)
vegan mozzarella, shredded, optional (I use Soymage)
1. A little trick I learned working in a good Italian restaurant in New Jersey. You do not need to precook the manicotti noodles, just leave the filling a bit wetter than you normally would. The same goes for lasagna noodles. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Put tofu into food processor or bowl. Add spinach, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, yeast flakes, and about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Pulse or mix by hand in bowl until well mixed and smooth, scraping sides of bowl. Taste. Adjust seasoning.
3. Fill large zip lock or regular plastic bag with mixture. Snip about a dime sized hole in bottom corner. Pipe mixture into manicotti shells, filling compactly.
4. Pour tomato sauce into a large bowl. Fill jar with about 1/2-3/4 cup water. Put top back on jar and shake well to further remove any remaining sauce. Add to sauce in bowl, mix well adding some olive oil. Ladle 1/2 sauce into a large retangular pan.
5. Put stuffed manicoti into sauce. Top with remaining sauce. Bake, covered 20-25 minutes. Remove cover and top with vegan mozzarella, if using. Bake another 10-15 minutes, until nice and bubbly and a little crunchy. Let cool a bit and enjoy!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Came out great! Thanks!
I made this to bring to a pot-luck birthday party a few days ago. My boyfriend and I made the mistake of thinking it would be our dinner, but I dontthink anyone at the party got more than one bite because every time someone filled a plate, it ended up getting passed around the room until there was none left! People there COULD NOT BELIEVE IT WAS VEGAN!!!!! Adam even said someone punched himand told him to 'GET OUT!' when he said it was cruelty free! Thanks again for such a wonderful recipe
OMG, this was so damn good! Even my hubby loved it! :)>>>
I have this in the oven right now. I cant wait to eat it. I am so excited, this was my favorite dish before becoming vegan. This filing taste awesome, I will use it for other recipes. Thank you!
None of this dish went to waste since it disappeared rapidly even as my roommates tried to analyze their opinion of it. I found this very easy to make, and fairly tasty even though I strongly dislike the flavor of nutritional yeast. The manicotti was obviously not as rich tasting as the cheesy original, but overall a success.
So easy, and SOOOOOO GOOD :)>>>!!! Everyone LOVED it! Followed the recipe to a T, and it was PERFECT! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Oh My! I never would have know this was vegan. It is so good. I think I will cook the pasta a little bit next time first. I added some portabellas for my daughter. Unfortunately, I won't be making this much because my daughter does not like the filling. My guess is that it is too cheese like. (She has been vegan since birth.) Very, very good.
I wouldnt have even known they were vegan. I added some lemon juice, nutmeg, fresh parsley, and vegan cream cheese. The three boys i was cooking for pretty much flipped out over them...:P
This is always a favorite! This time, I used crumbled tofu and sauteed it with garlic and fresh basil, some spices, and added a tub of tofutti better than cream cheese. Once it was all melted, I added the spinach, and then piped that into the noodles. Way good.
My carnivorous boyfriend surprised me after work by making this for me. It was AMAZING!!! :)>>> This one is going in my personal cookbook. The only thing I would change was it was a little too peppery for me, so I'd leave that out. But then I've never really liked black pepper. Still, absolutely ;)b
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