Tilapia Stuffed Manicotti

I came across the Clean Eating magazine in Starbucks over the weekend and the front cover made me buy it! Amazing advertising that's for sure. I will definitely be checking out that magazine again. What caught my eye was this delicious rich and creamy manicotti picture. I immediately went to the page with the recipe on it and saw it was stuffed with tilapia. I haven't cooked fish yet so I figured something this yummy would be perfect to start with. The recipe has quite a few steps, but it is worth them all.


The recipe calls for:

olive oil cooking spray
10 green onions
10 whole-wheat lasagna noodles
1 carrot
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
12 oz fresh tilapia fillets
4 oz light cream cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp dry dill
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 oz reduced fat mozzarella cheese




-- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8x8 glass pan
with cooking spray and set aside.
-- Rinse the onions & trim off the white tops and discard.
-- Prepare the lasagna noodles. Put the green onions in the boiling water for 90 seconds, remove and set  aside.
-- Grate the carrot and set aside.
-- In a large non-stick pan on medium heat, add the oil and heat for 1 minute. Then add the tilapia to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes covered. Flip the fish and cook for another minute. Once mostly cooked start to break up the fish into pieces. Keep on the heat until the fish is fully cooked then remove from heat and set aside.
-- In a medium saucepan on low heat add the cream cheese, milk, dill & salt. Whisk the mixture constantly until it is smooth then add half of the mozzarella cheese mixture. Whisk for about 30 seconds or until the cheese sauce is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat & take out 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce, set aside.
-- Stir the tilapia, carrots and the remainder of the cheese sauce together. Lay the lasagna noodles on a carving board and add 2 tbsp of the mixture to the end of the noodles. Roll them up and wrap the onions around the bundle, tie in a knot. Place them all in the glass pan.
-- Add the reserved cheese sauce & the other half of the mozzarella cheese over the top of the bundles.

The recipe nutritional facts are 447 calories & 12 g fat per serving.
(2 1/2 bundles)

You can also make different meals with the cheese sauce alone. Or you can just use a variety of vegetables or a different white fish. Instead of lasagna noodles you can use elbow, shells, penne or whatever your favorite is & make it a casserole dish.

I think next time I make this instead of discarding the white part of the green onions I plan on chopping it up and adding it to the mixture. I really liked the green onion flavors and wished it was in every bite. I also would like to try using a different pasta.

All fish lovers should try this recipe out and if you're not a fish fan substitute in something you like!