Whipped Ricotta

 We had this for dinner tonight and it was so very good! It would be excellent as a hearty appetizer also. Make sure you have the very best garlic toast, cut in big pieces, salty and garlicky, and crunchy. 

The garlic toast is key! 

• Ricotta
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• A shake or two of dried thyme
• Whip the above in your Cuisinart for a few minutes adjusting ingredients to taste 
• Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, honey (don’t skimp) , pistachios, and some pretty green herbs…. I used parsley

Eggplant Rollatini

 

Day 22: Make a dish using all seasonal produce. 

Living in the great state of Michigan is such a luxury! We have it all, including as many fresh veggies and farm grown food as a person can handle. My little garden it still producing lots of veg - I have some gorgeous eggplants still tucked away. I'm thinking I'll make eggplant bacon - yes, bacon. I tried it last year and it was killer on a BLT. 

Basically, for these little bundles of garlicky goodness, I sliced eggplants very thin, roasted them, smeared them with some vegan ricotta, smothered them in sauce and finished them off with some pine nuts. Can you say, "Luscious"?

Vegan Manicotti

Oh man. This was good. We ate this like there was no tomorrow. I was lucky to have what you see in the photo for a leftover lunch the next day. It warmed up perfectly in the microwave, but straight out of the oven? Killer!

This meal was requested by my son, and I wanted to avoid all the cheese and calories and cholesterol, so I created this vegan version and he loved it. LOVED it.

Here’s what you need:

1 recipe of Cashew Ricotta (from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra)

                ½ C raw cashews

                ¼ C fresh lemon juice

                2 T olive oil

                2 cloves garlic

                1 pound firm tofu, drained and crumbled

                1 ½ t dried basil

                1 t salt

In a food processor or high speed blender, mix the cashews, juice, oil, and garlic until smooth. Add the tofu and continue blending until thick and creamy. Add basil and salt to taste.

2 large cups of fresh spinach

2 cloves garlic, minced

Manicotti pasta (I used 11 total tubes in this recipe)

1 jar marinara sauce

Dehydrated tomatoes  (mine came from my garden. I reconstituted them in about 1 C boiling water. I then snipped them with kitchen scissors into bite-size pieces.)

Vegan Parmesan

Here’s what you do:

Make the cashew ricotta and set aside.  Warm some olive oil in a saute pan and add the garlic, being sure not to brown it at all. Place the spinach in the warm oil, turn off heat, stir until it’s all coated with oil. It should cook down to a small amount.

Stir the spinach and ricotta together and spoon into a large plastic bag. Set aside.

Cook the manicotti for about 4-5 minutes in boiling water. Do not overcook them. Snip a tiny corner off the plastic bag and fill each manicotti tube with the spinach/ricotta mixture. Carefully place in a 9x13 or other size pan. (I had to use two pans to accommodate the entire recipe). Keep going until the kitchen is a total mess and all the filling is used up. Cover with some prepared marinara sauce. Scatter some reconstituted tomatoes over the top for a fantastic punch of flavor. I sprinkled the cashew Parmesan on the manicotti before I baked them….next time I might wait till it comes out of the oven.

eggplant rollatini

Admittedly, this recipe is a bit more involved than some others, but the final product is so lovely and so special, that I think it’s worth the effort. This would be an excellent entrée for a vegetarian dinner party – it’s that good. But don’t hesitate to make it for your family- they’ll thank you. I ate something similar to this at a restaurant in East Lansing a few years ago and since then I’ve tried to imitate what I tasted…..  I think I have finally landed on the perfect combo of flavors and textures. I must admit that I’m pretty proud of this meal!

One note: this only makes 2 portions of 3 rollatinis each. Also, if you plan to serve this with pasta, you should double the sauce.

Here’s what you need:

1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise in ¼ inch slices – do this very carefully. There’s no need to remove the skin.

3 T Olive oil

Salt and pepper

For the filling:

½ C crumbled feta cheese

¼ C ricotta cheese

1 t lemon juice

½ t lemon zest

½ t dried thyme

¼ t red pepper flakes

¼ t salt

For the sauce:

2 T olive oil

¼ C onion, minced very fine

1 T garlic, minced

1 C chopped Roma tomatoes

1 C chopped red bell pepper

2 T dry white wine

2 t tomato paste

¼ C half and half

Topping:

1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

1 T pine nuts

Here’s what you do:

Step One

Mix the ingredients for the filling and incorporate all of it with a fork. Set aside.

Step Two

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put a cooling rack on a baking sheet. Arrange sliced eggplant on rack and brush liberally with olive oil. Salt and pepper each slice. Bake for about 8 minutes.

Turn the eggplant over and repeat on the other side for another 8 minutes.

When the eggplant is done, allow it to rest under foil for about 10 minutes. It will do some more cooking later, but you certainly want it nice and soft now. 

Step Three

Lower the oven to 350 degrees.  Sautee the onion, tomatoes, peppers and garlic for about 10 minutes or until very soft and smelling great. Do not allow to brown, only soften. Add the wine and tomato paste and simmer for a few minutes more. Remove from heat to cool for a few minutes.

Puree the vegetables and ¼ C half and half until reasonably smooth. 

Step Four: aka – The Fun Step

Place about ½ sauce in the bottom of a small casserole.

Carefully spread 1/6 of the cheese filling over each eggplant slice. Roll up starting from the narrow end  - rolling toward the round end. Place rolls seam side down on sauce.

Smother with the remaining sauce. Top with mozzarella and pine nuts. Bake for about 20 minutes or until melty and brown. You can give them a few minutes under the broiler for a nice finished color at the end of baking.

I’m telling you these are fantastic – you vegetarians out there know what I mean when I say that eggplant is the ‘forgotten’ vegetable. You non-vegetarians out there will be totally satisfied with this dish because it is so hearty.  You could serve this with pasta (see note above about doubling the sauce if serving with pasta), a green salad, a simple side vegetable, crusty bread, or as is…..

(printable recipe)

spinach lasagna

Spinach Lasagna - I am sharing this over at "This and That." Take a peek at the great link-up here.

I have been making this for years. It is really, really good and very simple to assemble. I got the recipe at a 'recipe shower' before I was married - 25 years ago!

Here's what you need:

9 lasagna noodles- follow the directions on the box to cook them. I don't think the 'ready-to-use' type of noodle would work here because there is not a lot of sauce in the layers of this lasagna.

10 oz fresh spinach- basically, 2 bags of the baby salad spinach leaves

about 1 lbs mozzarella, grated

about 30 oz ricotta cheese

1 1/2 jars marinara sauce

some good Parmesan to sprinkle on the top

There are no spices needed for this lasagna!

It has an excellent fresh taste when done.

Here's what to do:

put 1 C sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan ( I sprayed mine, just in case...)

layer 3 noodles

some ricotta- use the back of a spoon to spread it around

some spinach

some mozzarella

keep layering, ending with noodles

Feel free to press it all down with your hands as you go. The spinach has a tendency to want to keep springing up!

THEN pour the rest of the sauce over it all using a knife to help the sauce dribble down the sides of the dish. Don't worry about getting the sauce into the middle of the lasagna...... it won't matter.

I dusted mine with some freshly grated Parmesan for a nice chewy top.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes, add more fresh Parm if desired and enjoy! I waited about 30 minutes before cutting the first piece so it would come out of the pan nicely. I think waiting for a lasagna to rest is the secret to it looking picture perfect on the plate.

This one is definitely nice enough for company.