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?
My 8-year old son, who hates cheese, and I loved this so much! I also added portobello mushrooms to the filling. This was even good reheated the next day for lunch!
This was absolutely incredible.........I added a tub of vegan cream cheese to the ricotta.....I don't even like italian food. THANK YOU! I'll be having this on my regular menu!! ;)b ;)b ;)b
I made this for my mother and her husband tonight. They devoured it and asked for the recipe. Normally her husband doesn't eat anything but unseasoned animal flesh, so that is saying a lot. The only changes I made were to use jumbo shells instead of manicotti and to add chopped mushrooms. Thanks!
WOW!! Delicious! All my omnivorous family members and boyfriend absolutely loved these and did not miss the cheese at all :) Bravo!!
Omg.
This recipe was unexplainably delicious.
Seriously, soooo good.
Thank you so much for sharing!
I changed a couple things that really turned out well, and made the filling extra creamy and ricotta-like. I cut the amount of tofu in half, and used half a tub of Tofutti Cream Cheese, and 1/4 cup of Unsweetened soy milk.
I didn't pre-cook the Manicotti Noodles, and they turned out perfect! I used enough water/tomato sauce mixture to almost completely submerge the manicotti, and after 35 minutes of baking, the tomato sauce was nice and thick and non-watery.
Great recipe, delicious food- I'm going to make this all the time now.
this sounds like a great recipe. i usually use tofu, vegan cheese and soaked nuts for the filling, because it ups the protein and, at least for me, provides a more authentic texture and mouth feel. thanks.
This recipie was so delicious! My omni fiance loved it! I will make this again, but next time I will cook the noodles ahead of time. :-\ ;)b
My husband and I loved this dish. The nutritional yeast really gives it a "cheesy" taste. I've been using it more and more in my cooking. This dish will be a regular on our menu. The only difficulty I had was getting the filling into the tubes. I didn't have great luck with the plastic bag. I think because my filling was a little chunky because i just mixed it instead of putting it though the blender. oh well, still turned out great... just need to perfect the technique!
I missed eating my moms manicotti when I went vegan but this is totally a godsend. Crazy delicious! :)>>>
This is very good! even my 12 year old self proclaimed tofu hater liked it and ate half the pan (not in the same night) made his without the spinach.
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