Manicotti is this wonderful Italian pasta dish that I grew up eating. It is essentially a long rigged pasta shell stuffed with ricotta cheese and baked with a red sauce. Since going vegan I’ve missed some of my favorite foods. Thankfully, Veganism has come a long way and now I can effortless discovery recipes to try at home.
I saw this book at a Barnes & Noble last fall but didn’t have the money for it until this spring. Totally worth the wait. It is a plant based Italian cookbook! It is overflowing with decadent, traditional recipes that anyone can make at home. Soon as I spotted the Cheese & Spreads section, I knew I had to attempt a manicotti.
As far as a recipe goes I carefreely made the dish. I used my own signature red sauce recipe with sautéed spinach (look back at this post for how I make sauces). Then I had to play around with the cookbook‘s recipe for ricotta cheese.
Recipe:
These measurements are enough for 7 manicotti shells to be filled.
Ingredients:
1 cup of raw cashews
1 cup of raw almonds
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
as much as you like of dry oregano, black pepper, parsley, basil, thyme & rosemary
Method:
1. Boiled cashews for 20-25 minutes until soft
2. Blanch almonds for 1 minute in boiling water. Transfer to bowl of cold water. Skin the almonds.
3. Add the cashews and almonds to a blender with the remaining ingredients. If your blender isn’t high quality you may need to add some water to get the texture you need.
4. Let ricotta cheese mixture rest and thicken in fridge for 30 minutes before piping into manicotti shells
5. Once manicotti is filled with ricotta and covered with your red sauce, bake in oven for 20 minutes on 400F.
I was very pleased with how this dish turned out. My significant other and best friend (non-vegans) said it was spot on. I love Italian food so know that I’ll be creating more meals like this soon! Arrivederci!
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