Roasted Vegetable Manicotti, Deconstructed
Baked cheese manicotti reworked into one pot: dried mushrooms, dried zucchini, tomato powder, and a cheese sauce built from powder.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Small dry pasta | 2 oz | shells or elbows; manicotti tubes will not stir |
|---|---|---|
| Dried mushroom slices | 1/3 cup | cremini dried at home, or store-bought |
| Dried zucchini and eggplant | 1/3 cup | sliced thin and dried until brittle |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for jarred marinara |
| Grated parmesan | 3 tbsp | the shelf-stable shaker kind |
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | |
| Freeze-dried mozzarella or cheese powder | 2 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, pepper | 1 tsp total |
Method
- Put the dried vegetables in the pot with 600 ml of water. Bring to a boil and hold it there two minutes so they start drinking.
- Add the pasta and the tomato powder. Boil until the pasta is done, seven to nine minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Pull it off the heat. Let it sit one minute so the pot stops scorching things.
- Stir in the milk powder, parmesan, mozzarella powder, oil, and the spices. Keep stirring until it goes from watery to coating.
- Lid on for two minutes. It thickens further as it cools.
The original is an oven casserole: shells stuffed with ricotta and roasted vegetables, baked under sauce for over an hour. None of that survives a trail kitchen. So the parts get separated and rebuilt in a pot. The roasted vegetables become dried vegetables, which rehydrate into something closer to roasted than steamed because the drying already drove the water out. The ricotta and egg binder is gone entirely; milk powder and parmesan do the same job of turning thin sauce into something that clings.
Order matters more than technique here. Vegetables go in first because dried mushroom takes longer to soften than pasta takes to cook. Dairy goes in last, off the heat, because milk powder scorches on a stove that only has one setting. Tomato powder is the item worth buying ahead; jarred sauce is mostly water and you are not carrying water.
Packing
Vegetables, pasta, tomato powder, and spices in one bag. Cheese and milk powder in a second bag, added off the heat so they do not curdle or catch. Oil in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- A crushed bouillon cube deepens the sauce if the tomato powder tastes thin.
- Vegan version: nutritional yeast and cashew milk powder in place of the dairy.
- At a car camp, use a foil pan and real jarred sauce over the grate.
https://ohmyveggies.com/recipe-make-ahead-cheese-roasted-vegetable-baked-manicotti