The Godfather: Manicotti

The Godfather - Recipe #9

For my final The Godfather recipe, I chose manicotti. Similar to lasagna, manicotti is a pasta stuffed full of cheese and spinach. I made tofu ricotta in lieu of cheese, and I used a similar spinach recipe I posted here for the filling (If you make the spinach the day before like I did, stuffing it into pasta is a good use of the leftovers).

As we come to the ending of the book, there are not many food mentions to be found, which is why I just chose something quintessentially Italian and lots of fun to make! I had never made manicotti or cannelloni (manicotti’s smooth-edged cousin), so I thought I would give it a go. Using a pastry bag to fill the pasta tubes is highly recommended, by the way. Using spoons to try and stuff everything in is a nightmare.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup raw, shelled sunflower seeds

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds - raw

• One 14-oz block of extra-firm tofu, drained as much as possible (I like to slit the package along the bottom a bit and squeeze the liquid out that way)

• 1 tsp lemon zest

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

• 3 Tbsp olive oil (divided into 1 Tbsp for the “ricotta” and 2 Tbsp for sauteing the spinach)

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1 lb (one large package) fresh baby spinach (or use the spinach recipe here for an extra-flavorful kick, in lieu of step 3 below)

• 1 package manicotti pasta shells

• 6 cups marinara/red sauce (try my recipe here)

• Shredded vegan mozzarella cheese (optional) - (I used Violife.)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Make the tofu ricotta:

   • In a food processor, process sunflower seeds and almonds.

   • Add tofu and continue to process until homogeneous and fluffy

   • Add lemon zest, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and nutritional yeast and process until well incorporated. Taste and add more salt if needed. Set aside.

3. In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add spinach and saute until wilted (OR use this recipe here).

4. Mix spinach into tofu “ricotta” mixture and set aside.

5. Cook manicotti pasta tubes to package instructions (usually boil about 9 minutes). Drain and place pasta tubes on a plate to dry - in one layer so they don’t stick together.

6. Fill a pastry bag with ricotta/spinach mixture (or a sandwich/plastic bag with one corner cut off if you don’t have a pastry bag).

7. Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with tomato/marinara/spaghetti/red sauce (whatever you want to call it…)

8. Fill each pasta tube with ricotta/spinach mixture and place in the casserole dish on top of red sauce. Continue until all tubes are full and/or the bottom of the dish is covered.

9. Cover the pasta tubes with remaining red sauce and top with shredded vegan mozzarella cheese (optional).

10. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

11. Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

12. Let cool, garnish with parsley, and serve with some crusty bread to mop up the extra sauce.

13. Enjoy!