Three Cheese Zucchini Manicotti

Another great meatless meal!  Cheesy and delicious with a trick to making the stuffing the manicotti tubes easier.  Actually, no manicotti shells are used in this recipe!

What?  How can that be?

Instead of the potentially messy task boiling and stuffing manicotti  pasta tubes...sheets of no-boil lasagna are softened in hot tap water, stuffed and then rolled into tubes.  It is a wonderful time saver and works beautifully.  I added shredded zucchini to the stuffing because I like to stretch things with vegetables.  YOu cannot taste the zucchini in the filling.  You could also use spinach in place of the zucchini...that works too or no veggie filler at all, it's your choice! For the sauce, I used a quart of Basic Tomato Sauce Two Ways that I had in the freezer, but any jarred marinara sauce that is 1 point+ per 1/2 cup value would work without changing the point+ values of the entire dish.  Served with a side salad, this makes a great meatless meal perfect for lent.

2 rolls per serving

"stuffing" ready to mix

About a 1/4 cup of cheese mixture on one end of the pasta sheet

Carefully roll up and place seam side down in baking dish

Three Cheese Zucchini Manicotti 

Servings - 6   Serving size - 2 rolls per serving   Points Plus per svg - 9 points+

Calories - 332.4   Total Fat - 9.4g,   Carb. - 42.6g,   Protein - 20.9g,   Fiber - 3.9g

12 sheets of no-boil lasagna noodles ( I used Barilla ) 

32 oz. Basic Tomato Sauce Two Ways OR any jarred 1point+ per 1/2 cup svg meatless Marinara sauce

15 oz. LOW FAT ricotta cheese

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup egg beaters

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

4 oz. reduced fat mozzarella ( I used Kraft 2%)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.   Place no-boil noodles in a glass 9 x 13 baking dish.  Put enough hot tap water on them to cover.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes to soften.  Once soft, remove to paper towels in flat layer to drain of excess water. Discard water used to soften noodles, wipe dry the baking dish, spray with cooking spray, and add one cup of sauce to dish and swirl to coat bottom.  Set aside.

2.  In med bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, zucchini, garlic, salt, pepper, egg beaters and Parmesan cheese.

3. Working with one noodle at a time, lay it flat on a work surface and add about 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese mixture to the end facing you.  Carefully roll up into a tube and place in prepared baking dish, seam side down.  Repeat with the rest of the noodles and filling.  

4.  Spread the remaining sauce on top of the noodles and cover tightly with foil.  Bake in oven until warm and sauce is bubbly, about 35 - 40 minutes.  Remove foil and sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.  Return to oven to let the cheese melt, about another 10 minutes.  Allow to sit for 5 - 10 minutes before serving. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Tomorrow I will be making the traditional corned beef and cabbage meal to celebrate St. Patty's Day.  The weather is supposed to be spectacular, in the 60's with sunshine...and around here you can get snow until April ( and then some) so it will be a very nice spring preview!  I am really looking forward to it.  I make my corned beef in the crockpot and serve it with cabbage ( of course!), baby new potatoes, and carrots lots of and lots of horseradish to serve on the side!!!  YUM!  Its a once a year meal for us.  My mom is bringing Irish Soda bread from a local bakery that makes the BEST and we will be celebrating my husbands birthday as well ( its actually this Friday) so I am pretty sure there will be cake involved at some point.    I am going to have to make sure to plan my day accordingly so I can enjoy the evening meal AND a piece of cake...but I guess, really, that is the beauty of WW, because it allows you to do that without feeling guilty.  And I like that!

Don't forget to send me your entries for BSI-Buttermilk!  Click HERE to see info!