Greens and Pea Manicotti

Use your favorite greens to make Greens and Pea Manicotti, a lovely savory vegetarian main course of crepes filled with peas, goat cheese, ricotta and, of course, greens, covered in a fragrant tomato sauce.

When my elder daughter came home from university the first summer after her freshman year, she surprised me with the news that she had become a vegetarian. But I guess I really wasn't that surprised since I knew that her new best friends were mostly vegetarian and that sort of thing rubs off on a person.

When her little sister followed in her footsteps, not just to the same school, but into vegetarianism, no surprise at all there. Frankly, I think it's a great thing - I'm not ready to go there yet, but I fully supported their choice. Neither of them is completely vegetarian these days, but we do eat more meatless meals because I discovered during those years that there are many delightful recipes without it.

Several years ago, while I was researching recipes on the internet, I came across what sounded like a rich, satisfying vegetarian dish and I couldn't wait to give it a try. I had to make a few changes because of what I had available but it was very tasty and I've made it again since.

It would be perfect for a Meatless Monday dinner or a Lenten meal for those who fast from meat, whether all month or just on Fridays. If you are looking for more meatless casserole recipes, make sure to scroll down and check out the link list from my Sunday Supper friends.

Greens and Pea Manicotti

My greens and pea manicotti is adapted from this recipe here. I love her writing. She's funny and she has great recipes so go check her out. Here's my favorite post!

Ingredients
For the filling:
3 oz or 85g goat cheese
4 1/2 oz or 125g fresh ricotta or small curd cottage cheese
5 oz or 140g raw greens of your choice (spinach, kale, silver beets, etc.)
6 oz or 180g frozen peas, thawed
1 large clove garlic
1 whole egg
Zest of one lemon
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz or 225g freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup or 60ml whipping cream
Sea salt
Black pepper

For assembly:
1 1/2 cups or 240ml tomato sauce – store bought will work if you have a favorite or make this sauce, from my eggplant parmigiana recipe. It freezes very nicely so the extra will come in handy for future meals.
10 6-inch or 12cm crêpes (recipe here)
1 oz or 55g freshly grated Parmesan

Method
Clean your greens thoroughly and remove any thick stems. Rinse them at least three times.

These are silver beet greens but I've also made this with kale.

Yes, I know the package might say pre-washed. It’s lying to you. Just like when I told my mother I had vacuumed but I really just ran the vacuum cleaner around to make the lines on the shag carpet without turning it on. (Fact: The vacuum cleaner is much easier to move when it’s not sucking.)

Steam the greens for several minutes with the lid on.

Remove and cool by immersing in some cool water. Spin them dry in a salad spinner or a dry tea towel. If they still feel too wet, give them a squeeze with your two hands.

Using a fork, break your goat cheese and ricotta up into small crumbles. Chop your clove of garlic.

Add the greens, peas and garlic to your food processor and pulse. If you hear a clank, clank, clank at this point, realize that your peas are still frozen.

Pour the whole mess into a microwaveable bowl and thaw properly this time. Jeez. Okay, try again. You are looking for a rough mixture that still has lumps and bumps.

Now add the lemon zest and Parmesan to your other cheeses.

In a bowl big enough for thorough stirring, add the cheese mixture to the greens and pea mixture. Sprinkle on your salt and pepper. Give it a good stir. Taste it and add more salt, if necessary.

Now add the egg and stir again.

Add the cream and stir again. Your filling is ready and just needs to hang out for a while in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to develop.

Time to get on with the tomato sauce and the crêpes. By the time you have those two done, the filling should be ready to use. Follow these two recipes here and here. Make double the crêpe recipe and you can easily half the tomato sauce. Or make the full batch and freeze some. Go ahead, get on with them. We’ll wait here.

Just twiddling while we wait.

Okay, so, when you are ready to fill your crêpes and bake, preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Spray a little Pam in your baking dish or drizzle in a little olive oil and rub it around. Cover the bottom of your pan with about a 1/2 cup or 120ml of your tomato sauce.

Put about a 1/4 cup or 60ml of filling on the top crêpe and spread it along the middle. Fold one side over and then the other side.

Lay it in the pan, ends side down. Continue filling the crêpes until all the filling is gone. Extra crêpes can be wrapped in cling film and frozen.

Top the manicotti with another cup or 240ml of tomato sauce and then a good sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the sauce and cheese are bubbling. Serve with a side green salad or vegetable of our choice.

Enjoy!

Meatless Meals for Lent

• Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Fresh Herb Bread Pudding by Wholistic Woman
• Baked Eggplant Parmesan Casserole by Jersey Girl Cooks
• Baked Mushroom Fettuccine by Delaware Girl Eats
• Cheesy Mushroom Marsala Pasta Casserole by Hot Eats and Cool Reads
• Greens and Pea Manicotti by Food Lust People Love
• Leek and Swiss Chard Gratin by Caroline’s Cooking
• Mushroom Breakfast Casserole by Brunch-n-Bites
• Raisin Bread Cheddar Strata by Pies and Plots
• Ricotta Pasta Frittata by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Roasted Vegetable Lasagna by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tex Mex Vegetarian Bake Freestyle Recipe by Positively Stacey
• Spaghetti Squash Parmesan Casserole by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Spinach Ravioli Bake by Our Good Life
• Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake by The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Tuna Noodle Casserole from Scratch by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Vegetarian Baked Pasta with Spinach and Gruyère by Cooking Chat
• Vegetarian Enchiladas Recipe with Chickpea Curry by Sunday Supper Movement
• Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie by Simple and Savory
• Veggie & Quinoa Baked Stuffed Peppers by Hardly A Goddess

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Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

Peppermint dough and mint chocolate swirls or peppermint glaze - or both! - make these pretty peppermint pinwheel cookies. They are perfect for your Christmas table or cookie exchange.
 




It wouldn't be Christmas without some cookies, right? And peppermint is an essential Christmas flavoring so I decided to put those two things together!

These peppermint pinwheel cookies are actually quite easy to make, although there is some waiting while the dough firms up, (See note below.) so do plan accordingly. They are the perfect size for popping in your mouth every time you pass the cookie plate but since the recipe makes 5 dozen, that shouldn't create a problem. With mint glaze and melted chocolate drizzled on them, they are sure to be everyone's new favorite Christmas cookie.

Note: Like any cookie dough that needs to be rolled out before cutting, the process will be easier if your dough has time to chill in the refrigerator. Plan on at least an hour of chilling time before rolling it out and four hours in the freezer before baking. Or make the dough a day or two before you plan to bake. It will keep beautifully, well-wrapped in cling film in your freezer.

Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

These peppermint pinwheel cookies are adapted from this filled cookie recipe on My Recipes.

Ingredients for about 5 dozen + cookies
For the dough:

1/2 cup or 113g butter, softened
1 cup or 200g sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring paste for red half (I use Wilton no taste red.)
1/2 teaspoon mint extract for white half

For the peppermint glaze:
1/2 cup or 65g powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
Pinch salt

For the mint chocolate drizzle:
1 3/4 oz or 50g mint dark chocolate bar (I used half a Lindt bar.)

Method
Cream the butter and sugar together with your electric mixer, beating until light and fluffy.

Scrape the bowl down with a rubber spatula then add the egg and vanilla, beating until blended, scraping bowl again as needed.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating at a low speed until blended.

Set aside half of the dough. (Mine weighed 598g so I took out 299g. Scale users unite!) If you don't have a kitchen scale, eyeball it.

Knead food coloring paste into remaining portion of dough while wearing rubber gloves or, if you are so fortunate, use the K-beater in your stand mixer to combine the two. Cover the dough with cling film and chill for at least one hour.

Knead the mint extract into the other half of the dough, or once again, use your stand mixer to combine the two. Cover the dough with cling film and chill for at least one hour.

Once chilled, roll each half into a 12- x 8-inch or 31x20cm rectangle between two pieces of baking parchment or waxed paper. Check out this great video from Crazy For Crust, to see how to do it. Just stop before you start cutting out cookies.

Once you have them rolled out, trim the rounded edges and neaten up your rectangles with a sharp knife.

Put the parchment or wax paper back on top and use your rolling pin and very little pressure to stick those pieces to the bigger piece again.

Peel one side of the parchment or wax paper off of each rectangle and lay one rectangle of dough on top of the other and press down gently so they stick together. Peel the paper off the top. Save the parchment paper because you can use it again for wrapping the dough and then baking.

Cut the double rectangle in half lengthwise to create two long equal rectangles.

I decided to roll one half up with the peppermint dough on the inside and one with the red dough on the inside, so I flipped one over, but you can make them all one way or the other.

Use a piece of the parchment or some cling wrap to help you roll the two dough rectangles up tightly, from the long end, so you end up with two long skinny tubes.

Wrap these again in parchment or cling film and freeze for several hours.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a couple of cookie sheets by lining them with baking parchment or silicone mats.

Cut the rough ends off of one log, leaving the other in the freezer, then slice the log into circles. Depending on where you stand on the subject of eating raw egg (and now flour!) you can discard the ends or eat them.

Place them on the prepared cookie sheets with a couple of inches or at least five centimeters between them. As you will see, mine were too close so many of them spread out enough to join together.

Bake for 7-8 minutes or until puffed and set.

Cool cookies on baking sheets for several minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Repeat with the other dough log until all the cookies are baked and cooled.

Mix up the glaze ingredients and set aside. When you are ready to decorate, put the glaze in a plastic bag and cut off a very small corner so you can pipe the glaze onto the cookies.

Or melt the mint chocolate in a microwaveable vessel, 15-second zaps at a time, stirring well between each zap. Use a piping bag to drizzle on the chocolate. You can use a plastic bag for the chocolate as well but I find the proper piping bags are easier to handle with warm chocolate.

Enjoy!

This week my Sunday Supper friends are sharing their favorite cookie recipes for Christmas. There are so many I'd like to try! Check out the list below.

Traditional and Tasty Cookies to Share

• Candied Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies by Soulfully Made
• Cherry Chocolate Pistachio Cookies by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Chewy Pumpkin Sugar Cookies by Pies and Plots
• Coconut-Key Lime Thumbprint Cookies by Gourmet Everyday
• Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies by Jersey Girl Cooks
• Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies by Our Good Life
• German Ginger Cookies (Ingwerplätchen) by Caroline’s Cooking
• Hot Cocoa Cookies by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Italian Rainbow Cookies by April Golightly
• Orange Cardamom Cookies by Sunday Supper Movement
• Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies by Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Molasses Cookies by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Spiced Persimmon Cookies with Figs by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Toffee Cookies by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Fun and Festive Cookie Alternatives

• Best Ever No Bake Eggnog Truffles by Bites of Wellness
• Cappuccino Crinkles by A Little Fish in the Kitchen
• Chocolate Coated Krispy Peanut Butter Balls by Positively Stacey
• Cranberry Date Bars by Palatable Pastime
• Healthy Magic Cookie Bars by Simple and Savory
• Peppermint Pizzelle by Eat, Drink & Be Tracy
• Rainbow Biscotti Cubes by What Smells So Good?

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Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad

When you want to lighten up your menu for the holidays, this salade composée of “roasted” sweet potatoes, lentils and French beans, dressed with a shallot vinaigrette, Mandarin oranges and cilantro is perfect. Festively colored and full of flavor, it's substantial enough to be a main course, or serve smaller portions as a starter or side dish.  

During the roasting hot days of summer in Dubai we eat a lot of salads, what the French would call salades composées, created as they are of many colorful ingredients and substantially suitable for a main course. Our days are slightly less hot right now but we still want mostly cool food in the evenings and, with the supermarkets full of fall produce, our salads take a decidedly autumnal turn with the addition of sweet potatoes or pumpkin or butternut squash.

Since I try not to turn the oven on unless absolutely necessary, I “roast” the sweet potatoes in a dry non-stick skillet, only adding a small drizzle of olive oil when the potatoes cubes are well-browned, even a little charred in places. I’ve given the quantities for my salad but feel free to add more tomatoes if you love them or choose a different cheese or substitute grapefruit for the oranges and chickpeas for lentils or whatever! This salad is easily adaptable to your taste.

This week Sunday Supper is sharing holiday salads. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of my recipe to see what other wonderful dishes we have for you to try.

Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad

This served two of us for a good supper with some leftovers for lunch the next day but it's sure to be a favorite on your holiday table as well.

Ingredients
2 small sweet potatoes
5 1/3 oz or 150g French beans
1/2 cup or 105g dried caviar lentils
1 shallot
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 large Mandarin orange
13-15 sweet grape or cherry tomatoes
Good bunch cilantro
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle for the sweet potato pan
3/4 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon flakey sea salt
Black pepper
4 3/4 oz or 135g soft aged goat cheese (Mine is a goat milk Brie.)

Method
Peel and cut your sweet potatoes in bite-sized chunks. Toss them into a dry non-stick skillet and cook over a medium high to high fire, turning and stirring them frequently until they are browned all over.

Drizzle in a little olive oil and stir the cubes to coat. Add in a generous splash of water, reduce the heat and cover the pan tightly. Cook the sweet potatoes for about 10 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from the stove and leave to cool.

Cut the stem ends off of the fine French beans and blanch them in slightly salty boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice and water.

Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the beans from the boiling water and immediately plunge them into the bowl of ice water. When the green beans are cold, remove them from the ice water and drain well on a clean tea towel.

Add your lentils to the boiling green bean water and cook for about 20 minutes or until they are just tender.

Drain your lentils, rinse them and leave them to drain again.

Slice your shallot as thinly as you can and put it in a large bowl. Pour the vinegar over the sliced shallot and set aside. This reduces the sharpness of the raw shallots while flavoring the vinegar.

Peel your Mandarin orange and pull the pegs apart. Use a sharp knife to slice off the hard center and remove any seeds. Cut the orange pieces in half.

Halve your little tomatoes and chop the leaves and tender top stems of the bunch of cilantro roughly.

Mix the whole grained mustard and olive oil into the vinegar and shallots, along with the sea salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.

Add in the cut oranges and stir well.

Add the “roasted” sweet potato and blanched green beans to the dressing bowl.

Top those with the cilantro and tomatoes. Toss the salad thoroughly, making sure to reach deep and dress everything with the dressing and shallots at the bottom of the bowl.

Finally, add the drained lentils and toss again.

Scoop the salad into a pretty serving dish, if desired, and top with small wedges of soft rind goat cheese.

Enjoy!

Check out all the holiday salads we have for you today!

Festive Holiday Salad Recipes

• Best Ambrosia Salad by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cranberry Fluff Salad by Palatable Pastime
• Cranberry Walnut Potato Salad by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Easy Green Bean Salad by Cricket’s Confections
• Layered Christmas Gelatin Salad by Positively Stacey
• Orange Fennel Salad by Pies and Plots
• Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad by Bottom Left of the Mitten

Bountiful Holiday Salad Recipes

• Roasted Artichoke Salad by Sunday Supper Movement
• Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Salad by My Life Cookbook
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Creamy Balsamic Dressing by Bites of Wellness
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Drunken Cranberries by Our Good Life
• Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon Dressing by Life Tastes Good
• Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Winter Beet Salad with Goat’s Cheese Dressing by Caroline’s Cooking
• Winter Fruit Salad by Turnips 2 Tangerines
• Winter Slaw with Pecans and Maple Dressing by Sprinkles and Sprouts

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