Manicotti with Tempeh/Ricotta Stuffing
Manicotti with Tempeh/Ricotta Stuffing
Craving cozy comfort food? The idea for Manicotti was inspired by @saltandpepper.social, who did tofu-ricotta stuffed shells, and we thought it would also work well with tempeh. The recipe is loosely based on a recipe by our friend @plantbasedjesscom!
Ingredients
- 8-12 manicotti noodles (or shells)
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- handful of fresh basil - roughly chopped, optional, for garnish
- For the homemade ricotta filling:
- 1 (8 oz) Tootie’s Tempeh
- 15 oz can cannellini or navy beans - rinsed and drained
- ½ lemon - juiced
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- handful fresh spinach
- 1½-2 tsp salt - or to taste
- 5-7 tbsp water - to thin out consistency as needed
- For the vegan white sauce (or you can use shredded vegan mozzarella):
- 1 cup raw cashews - soaked for 8 hrs or let sit in boiled water for 10 min.
- ¾-1 cup water
- 2-3 TBSP nutritional yeast
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 small clove of garlic
- ½ tsp salt - or to taste
Instructions
- Combine all the white sauce ingredients and blend for 30-60 seconds till smooth. Set aside.
- Cook the manicotti noodles al dente in boiling water according to the packaging. Drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, make the ricotta: Transfer all the ingredients to a food processor. Process until mostly smooth. Add water in needed to reach the consistency of ricotta.
- Taste and adjust salt, garlic and lemon if needed. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cover the bottom of a large baking dish with a layer of the marinara sauce. Put the ricotta mixture into a bag to make a funnel (cut the edge of a large plastic bag or use a piping bag). One manicotti noodle at a time, fill it up and then transfer it to the dish with the sauce. Do this until you’ve filled all the noodles. Spread more marinara sauce over the manicotti and drizzle the vegan white sauce on top. (You'll have extra sauce)
- Cover with foil & bake for 30 minutes. Then, uncover and turn up the heat to 450ºF, and bake for another 10-15 minutes.