Vegan Ricotta Manicotti
The filling for these pillowy stuffed manicotti pasta is so reminiscent of ricotta, I don’t even feel like I am eating vegan food! A must try!
I have tried dozens of non dairy ricotta recipes and this one is by far the BEST! The blend of tofu, beans, and cashews paired with cider vinegar, garlic, onions, spices, and nutritional yeast make a flavorful rich filling that makes me feel like I am eating a full dairy recipe. I usually split this recipe into two pans to have one now, and freeze one for a busy day.
The Ricotta Filling
The filling in this recipe is designed to give you a great taste and texture but it can be modified to suit your dietary needs. If you have a nut allergy or are in a weight loss phase, you can simply skip the cashews and add another can of beans in its place. This will give you a similar texture, but may reduce the richness of flavor overall.
Can I Use Jarred Spaghetti Sauce?
The answer here is yes. If you are short on time this can be a quick fix, however, many jarred sauces contain unwanted and unnecessary oils and additives. There is nothing quite like the taste of a fresh homemade sauce to make your meal sing! But I would not let time restraints stop you from eating this plant based meal. Here are a few time saving tips:
- Make the ricotta ahead of time. This can be during your weekend meal prep, before work, or the evening before. It honestly gets better when the flavors can meld together for a few hours. It does not keep well for more than a few days however.
- Make a big batch of the sauce and keep in the freezer for all your vegan pasta meals. I like to portion them into baggies and thaw them out when I want a quick delicious dinner.
- As stated above, this dish makes for a great freezer meal. Make a double batch and freeze one for another night. To reheat, preheat oven to 375 and remove from freezer. Cook for 50 minutes if frozen and 30 minutes if thawed.
Is Vegan Ricotta Manicotti Healthy?
The answer is yes! Anytime you can add more plants into your diet you are winning for your health. The filling is loaded with plant protein, the spinach is packed with iron and the beans offer fiber. Let’s not forget the benefits of the lycopene in tomatoes to aid in sun protection, heart health and cancer prevention. Even the herbs and spices contain plant power! Serve this with a green salad packed with raw veggies and you have a meal that will make you feel good!
Vegan Ricotta Manicotti
Equipment
- high speed blender
- medium pan
- gallon plastic bag or frosting piping bag
- 9x18 baking dish
- spatula
- large spoon
Ingredients
For The Vegan Ricotta
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 1 14-15 oz can white beans (I used cannellini)
- 1 cup cashews (soaked)
- ⅓ cup plant milk ( I used almond)
- ½ cup diced shallot (about 1)
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp salt (I used sea salt)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ cup fresh basil
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
For The Garlic Spinach
- 3 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 5 oz package organic spinach (about 2 cups packed) chopped
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
For The Marinara Sauce
- 6 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 28 oz canned tomato sauce
- 1 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
Instructions
Make The Vegan Ricotta
- Put the soaked cashews and milk into the blender and blend until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.
Make The Garlic Spinach
- In a medium pan saute garlic with olive oil for about 2 min. Add the spices and stir for a minute more.
- Add the spinach and sauce until just wilted.
- Stir in balsamic vinegar and salt and heat through. Spoon spinach into vegan ricotta mixture and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Boil The Noodles
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
- Add manicotti noodles and boil for about 6 minutes.
- Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Make the Sauce
- While the noodles are boiling, saute the garlic, olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper, and parsley in the same pan you cooked the spinach in for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Stir in the coconut sugar and simmer for another minute or two.*
Stuff The Pasta
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Coat the bottom of a 9x18 baking dish with some of the marinara.
- Fill a gallon ziplock bag or frosting piper with the ricotta spinach mixture. Pipe in enough ricotta mixture to fill each pasta shell. Do not overfill. You can also use a spoon to fill the shells.
- Spoon more sauce over the top of stuffed noodles. Do not completely cover the noodles with sauce.
- Bake at 375 °F for 30 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with chopped fresh basil and vegan parmesan if desired.
