Veggie Manicotti

I think manicotti is one of the best Italian foods out there. It's giant pasta, stuffed with cheese, covered in sauce and more cheese. As delicious as it is it does not really fall into the healthy category. As part of my families New Years resolution to eat more vegetables I decided to change our standard manicotti into one filled with veggies. Sadly, I was unable to find whole wheat manicotti shells so I had to use regular ones. I don't know if the jumbo shell pasta comes in whole wheat but the filling could also be put in those and baked the same way.

Now, there are 3 parts to this dish that are then all brought together and baked; the sauce, the pasta, and the filling. Luckily it is easy to make all 3 at the same time and cut down on time.

Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil and adding in the manicotti noodles. You want the manicotti noodles to be al dente; this means they are still firm but not hard. If the noodles get too soft they will fall apart when you try and stuff them. I would say let them boil for about 7 minutes or so.



Once you fill the pot with water and it is coming to a boil you can get started on the pasta sauce. This is a slight variation of the homemade pasta sauce post. I just add tomato sauce to make it a little more liquid which covers the manicotti better. 

Start by heating 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add in 4-5 crushed garlic cloves. Saute them until they are just toasty brown and then add in a can on whole tomatoes.

I also add in an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon of basil, oregano, onion powder and some salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to season your pasta sauce any way you like. Let the tomatoes simmer for about 5 minutes and then smash them up. This can be done with the back of a wooden spoon but I like to use a potato masher. I think using a potato masher is easier and gets the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Once the tomatoes have been smashed let it simmer for another 5 minutes or so to let all the flavors really come together.

 Ok, now that you've got the pasta and the sauce going it's time to make the filling. This can also be made first and then let it sit while you make the pasta and sauce. Take 1 zucchini and 2 carrots and grate them. This can be done with a food processor or just on a cheese grater. I chose to just use a cheese grater this time. I also chopped up about 1 cup of spinach and arugula. Arugula has a pretty strong flavor to it so you can keep it just spinach or any or greens you have. I had planned on using just spinach but we have a small garden where we grow some greens and we had significantly more arugula than spinach so I decided to use both. 

 In the same bowl as the veggies as in a 15 ounce container of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, and any spices you would like. I added in a little more basil and oregano, as well as a little garlic powder. Stir it all together. 


Once the noodles are cooked drain them and return them back to pot. I like to put a little bit of cold water over them. This cools them down to stop them from cooking and makes it easier to handle them in order to stuff them. It also helps from them drying out as you stuff each one. 




Place about 1 cup of pasta sauce on the the bottom of a 9x13 pan to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. 





There are a couple different ways to stuff each noodle. One way to do this is to use a small spoon and carefully slide the filling into the noodle. Another way to fill them is to spoon the filling into a large ziploc bag, seal the bag, and then cut the corner off. This is basically a homemade pastry bag and then you just squeeze the filling into the noodle.


Once you fill a noodle lay it in the pan until the whole pan is full. Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta. 




Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, sprinkle about 1 cup of mozzarella over it and then bake for another 10 minutes. 

There you have it; delicious veggie manicotti!