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

Pin it!

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Porcupine Balls

I open the deep freezer with a big sucking whoosh.  I peer into its disorganized shelves and start rooting around for something that looks like it might want to be dinner.  Ah, ground beef.  We haven’t had Salisbury steaks in a while.  “Come with me, my minced friend,” I say.  Now for a starch and a veg.  The veg is easy because I have salad fixings.  But starch-wise, we just had potatoes last night and pasta the night before, so that leaves couscous – a possibility but, nah – or rice.  But rice would require gravy.  And if you are making Salisbury steak with gravy, you gotta have mushrooms in it.  Hey, I don’t make these rules up.  They just are.  And I have no mushrooms.  So.  So.  Let’s think.  And then suddenly, it pops into my head.  A meal I haven’t made or eaten or even thought of for a very long time.  Where it came from, I do not know.  Porcupine balls!   They are relatively quick and certainly easy.  They are a great weeknight meal and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand.  And kids love them.  More’s the pity, I have no kids left at home.  But never mind.  You might.  Porcupine balls, it is!

Disclaimer:  No actual porcupines were harmed in the making of this dish.  

Photo credit: Michael Richert 

Yay for all you organized types who plan ahead, but this is often how the dinner menu gets decided at our house.  Raise your hand if you do the same.  Ha!  I knew I liked you!

Ingredients
For the porcupine balls:
About 1 lb or 500g ground beef
1/2 small purple onion – about 1 1/4 oz or 35g
1 egg
1 beef stock cube
A few good grinds of fresh black pepper
1 cup or 180g white Basmati or other long grained rice

For the cooking sauce:
1 14 oz or 400g can chopped tomatoes in juice
2 generous tablespoons or 60g tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 -1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (depending on your taste)
1 large clove garlic

For optional garnish:  chopped parsley or cilantro

Method
Using a hand blender, purée the onion and beef cube with the egg.  Add in the black pepper.

Pour the puréed mixture into the ground beef and mix well.  Then tip in the rice and mix thoroughly.

Roll the meat/rice mixture into small balls.  I divide these using my cookie dough scoop and then roll them smooth.   Set aside.

Put the first five sauce ingredients into a heavy pan with a tight fitting lid, along with some water.  If you use the tomato can to measure the water, about half a can will do.  Grate the garlic into the pan.

With the pan over a medium flame, bring the sauce to a boil.  Stir occasionally.  This should take just a few minutes.

Carefully immerse the meatballs in the sauce.  Do not burn yourself!  Give the pan a little shake so the meatballs will work their way to the bottom.

Top up with more water, until meatballs are almost covered.

Bring to a boil once more and then simmer, covered tightly for 30 minutes.  Set a timer.  During the first 10-15 minutes of the cooking time, pick the pot up with oven mitts occasionally and give it a gentle shimmy.  Do NOT open the lid.

When the timer goes off, turn off the stove and leave the lid on until you are ready to serve but another 15-20 minutes would be good.  NO peeking.

When you finally open the lid, the rice will have cooked and swollen out of the meatballs, turning them into, voilà, porcupine balls.  Your starch and meat all in one neat package.  Serve with salad or the vegetable of your choice.

Enjoy!

Note:  My backdrop material was created by my talented younger daughter.  It can be seen in its almost entirety here.  

Probably Not Papa Tom’s Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken spaghetti is a rich tomato sauce made with a dark roux base and chicken, served over your favorite pasta. This is the richest sauce ever. Delicious!

My maternal great-grandfather, by which I mean my mother’s mother’s father, was a life-long employee of the railroads, the mayor of his small town of Abbeville, LA for a couple of years, the brewer of his own beer and a good cook. His name was Thomas Fleming and we called him Papa Tom.

I don’t remember him really, although I have seen photographs and heard the stories so many times, that I feel I must. But one thing stands out in my mind about him, who knows why these things stick and even if they are accurate, but he used to make spaghetti sauce with chicken and start with a roux.

The family called it chicken spaghetti. Why not tomato sauce with chicken that we happen to serve over noodles? Well, probably because that’s just too long.  

Anyhoo.  That’s what I made for dinner tonight.  Possibly it’s not anything like Papa Tom’s but it was made with him, and my grandmother, Wanda Fleming Gautreaux, and my mother, fondly in mind.

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

2 medium onions

7-8 garlic cloves

4 sprigs of rosemary or 3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of sugar

Olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

Canola oil

1/4 cup  or 30g all-purpose flour

Sea salt

Black pepper

1 can (14 oz) or 390g whole peeled tomatoes with juice

3 oz or 85 grams tomato paste

Method

Cut your chicken into the usual pieces:  Breasts, wings, legs, thighs.  I also cut the breasts into two pieces.  You may choose to do the same.  Season liberally with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside.

Chop your onions and garlic into small pieces.  Pull the rosemary leaves off the stalk and mince.  If you are using bay leaves, leave them whole. 

Drizzle a good amount of olive oil in your pot and add in the two tablespoons of butter.  When it starts to sizzle, add the chicken, a few pieces at a time.  Brown on one side, then the other.  This could take as much as 10 minutes a side.

As the chicken pieces brown, remove them from the pot and set them aside on a plate.  When all the chicken is browned and on the side plate, turn off the pot.  Scrape off the lovely brown bits and heap them on the chicken plate.

Pour the oil from the pan into a heat resistance bowl and allow it to settle.  Wash the pot out thoroughly.

Pour the reserved oil from the bowl into a measuring cup, leaving behind the sediment.  Fill the measuring cup up to the 1/4 cup mark with new Canola oil.  Pour it into your clean pot and add an equal amount (1/4 cup) of flour.

Cook over a medium heat , stirring constantly, until the roux turns a medium dark brown.  Do not let it burn.

Add it the onion, garlic and rosemary or bay leaves.  Give the pot a good stir.

Add in the can of whole peeled tomatoes and the tomato paste. Add in one can’s worth of water.

Put the chicken back in the pot and add enough water to cover.  This took one more can full.

Add a good sprinkle of salt, a good couple of grinds of fresh black pepper and the tablespoon of oregano.  Mix in the teaspoon of sugar and stir.

Bring to the boil and then simmer until the chicken is tender and trying to fall of the bone.  Serve over freshly cooked spaghetti noodles.  This is the richest tomato sauce you'll ever taste.

This cooked down and thickened for about two hours.  Just because we
had nothing better to do.  It was probably cooked and technically ready to
eat in less than 45 minutes, albeit not as thick.

Enjoy!


A P.S. to family members who would like to correct my poor childhood memory, please do!  I will add updates or retractions to this post, as need be.

UPDATE - 11 September 2018: Almost six years after I posted this, I received an email from one of my third cousins. Marty confirmed that his mom Jo Ann also made chicken spaghetti with a roux but that she would never, ever put rosemary in it! I am concluding that Papa Tom probably wouldn't have either.