Eggplant Manicotti with Ricotta, Asiago, and Spinach Filling

We have made this twice now, and enjoyed it both times. As is, we find this to be a 3.5-star dish, but with the changes we suggest below we think this will be a 4- star dish. If you have a mandolin, use it to evenly and equally slice the eggplant. At 1/3 allow it to bake for closer to 20 minutes. Also, in the future we will peel the eggplant before baking it. We used low fat ricotta cheese, not whole milk, and it turned out fine; it is necessary to drain it for several hours though. We like the nutmeg flavor but recommend perhaps cutting the amount in half. The cayenne pepper is a nice compliment, but can be removed or increased to taste  well leave it out for the foreseeable future. I think with these changes the whole family, including our two year old daughter, will really enjoy this dish. We did not make the sauce, and instead used sauce we made over the summer with garden veggies, so the rating is based solely on the manicotti.

• cwarner1976

• York, PA

• 1/7/2013

I've made this recipe twice now, the second time i went with some pesto into the mixture as well as some whole roasted pine nuts, super flavor. I did however both times increase the cayanne just a little, and roast the eqqplant for 15 minutes and baked the dish for 30, it wast over done at all it was perfect!i also topped it with munster cheese and allowed that to melt on top it was delicious! I paired it with an oaxacan black bean and quinoa, it made for a nice vegetarian dinner!

• LauraUnloveable

• Tucson, Az

• 9/25/2011

I had similar problems as some of the other reviewers with my eggplant not being tender. I also had the misfortune of having short eggplants so I couldn't quite roll them. For the end pieces I ended up making almost a stuffed eggplant. I thought the sauce was amazing and I would make that alone-I did omit the wine for some additional broth. The stuffing is great.

• Foodie_Jenn

• Florida

• 8/13/2011

I can only give this 3 forks because the eggplant was not tender. I baked it for 15 minutes. Maybe that wasn't enough time? I used my own sauce. The combination of ingredients in the filling was delicious. I will definitely make this again, but I may try the Eggplant Rollatini recipe for preparing the Eggplant.

• Anonymous

• Wyckoff, NJ

• 10/9/2009

Excellent, light, and filling.

• troutpaws

• 8/16/2008

The nutmeg in this recipe made it taste more like the vegetable moussaka recipe from epicurious than what I would have expected from an Italian manicotti dish. I would exchange that for garlic salt next time. Also, the sauce was way too time-consuming. Just buy some marinara.

• Anonymous

• New York, NY

• 2/3/2008

Asiago taste is overpowered by the sauce. Eggplant was crisp around edges. Next time I would either parboil it or brush it with ample olive oil and roast it less. I am going to try it with a Bechamel sauce next time.

• jhaymeador

• jhaymeador

• 9/3/2007

With a different sauce this might be a superior dish. The sauce overpowers the filling and eggplant. Next time I will parboil the eggplant slices and use a Bechamel sauce.

• jhaymeador

• jhaymeador

• 8/29/2007

This makes a great pasta sauce! It didn't do much for me in the original form, but I've made it twice as a sauce, omitting the carrot pieces and substituting the chicken stock for vegetable. We enjoy eating this poured over polenta!

• bronwynart

• Portland, OR

• 5/12/2007

So fresh and flavorful! Quite time consuming but worth the effort. The leftovers tasted even better the next day!!!!!

• Jilly

• Maui

• 9/8/2006

We're low "carb"-ing at our house, so this recipe is perfect when craving Italian pasta. Did not make the sauce - I have a wonderful low carb tomato basil sauce I use regularly. Delicioso!! And leftovers are great too.

• loftycook

• Chicago

• 8/27/2006

Delicious recipe! Guest-worthy. Use only the freshest ingredients (including ricotta) & you can't go wrong with the simplicity of ingredients. Recipe is good as written. I cooked the sauce an extra 30 minutes to thicken it, but even then, there was a slightly thin part to it...but no problem! It's delicious to be "slopped up" with a good piece of bread! Beautiful presentation. I grilled the eggplant instead of baking it. Yum.

• Diane

• Now living in Paris, France

• 8/27/2006

I have made this dish twice now for dinner parties & people always rave & want seconds. Good main dish if you have any vegetarians coming over.

• werb

• Portland, OR

• 5/10/2006

This recipe didn't do it for me at all. The wine, carrots, and celery in the sauce just tasted odd. I won't be making this again; I'll stick with the Spicy Eggplant Rolls (also on this site).

• benedets

• 2/13/2006

I made this using Mids jarred meatless sauce and ricotta salata in place of the regular ricotta. I also used some fresh mozzarella and some pesto in the filling. Rave reviews from picky kids and adults alike!

• Anonymous

• Clarence, NY

• 2/8/2006