Our daughter-in-law, Deanna, makes Manicotti for her family often and was sharing her recipe a couple weeks ago. It sounded great and was definitely something I had never tried to make before, so I tried my hand at it this week. I tweaked her recipe a bit, mine is a meatless version but you could add ground beef, sausage (for an added spice version) or ground turkey. She uses meat in her sauce and would never use spinach in her cheese filling, but that’s how I wanted to try it. Kenny thought it was wonderful, but then he always says that. He knows the right thing to say to keep the meals coming. I served it with a small garden salad and fresh baked bread.
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped or (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup onion, minced
1 egg
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (I used our homemade pasta sauce)
1 cup water
1 (8 ounce) package manicotti shells
Fresh basil for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion, garlic and egg. Season with parsley and pepper. Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water.
Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until noodles are soft.
Tags: egg, Garlic, manicotti shells, mozzarella cheese, onion, Parmesan cheese, parsley, pasta sauce, ricotta cheese, spinach
