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Without question, my all-time favorite childhood meal was my mom’s manicotti.  It was one of my first meals:  my mom pureed it and fed it to me when I was a baby.  I grew up a typical omnivore.  I loved cheese!

Unfortunately, the manicotti from my childhood features not much more than sauce and noodles with cheese (cottage), cheese (mozzarella) and more cheese (parmesan).  It also has egg in it.  Not vegan!

After I went vegan, I set out to veganize my mom’s manicotti.  I think I did a pretty great job!  This recipe is my own except please note that the Powdered Cheez Blend is not my recipe (I forgot where I got it from).

STEP 1:

Saute in 1-2 T OLIVE or COCONUT OIL:

4 chopped SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS
about 1/4 of an ONION, chopped
several cloves GARLIC, minced
about 1/3 of a bunch of SPINACH, chopped
4 SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, chopped (oil-packed or dried & re-hydrated)
2 T ITALIAN SEASONING blend
1 T DRIED PARSLEY
1/2 t FENNEL SEEDS
1/4 t CRUSHED RED PEPPER FLAKES
dash SALT
dash PEPPER

Remove from heat then add 1/2 T BALSAMIC VINEGAR and set aside.

STEP 2:

With a fork, crumble 1/2 a block (7 oz) of drained FIRM TOFU.

Heat 1/4 C of POWDERED CHEEZ BLEND (see recipe below) in 1/2 C water in a small saucepan until it thickens, then remove from the heat.  Combine the tofu & this cheez sauce.

Set aside about 1/2 a package of DAIYA MOZZARELLA STYLE SHREDS.

STEP 3:

In a large bowl, combine the sauteed veggies, the tofu/cheez sauce blend, and the Daiya.

Stuff filling into 1 pkg MANICOTTI NOODLES and add stuffed noodles to a 9”x13” pan.

To ‘clean’ the bowl that had the filling mixture in it, add the sauce ingredients:  1-25.5 oz JAR SPAGHETTI SAUCE, 1-14.5 OZ CAN DICED TOMATOES, and 1/4 cup water.  Add sauce over the noodles.

Bake covered at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, then 5-10 minutes uncovered.  Wait 10 minutes before eating (that’s the hard part!)