Weeknight Manicotti Recipes

WEEKNIGHT MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Cook manicotti until tender. While manicotti is cooking, brown beef in oil.
• Combine bread & milk in a bowl & let stand for 2 minutes then add the the browned beef and remaining ingredients to bowl except for the tomato sauce and parmesan cheese.
• Fill rinsed and cooled manicotti with meat mixture.
• Spoon a bit of sauce over the bottom of a large pan and arrange filled manicotti in the pan.
• Pour remaining sauce over top of manicotti and top with parmesan cheese.
• Cover pan with foil and bake in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes.
• Serve with a nice salad and garlic bread if you wish.

CLASSIC MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. First, make the marinara sauce. In a saucepan heat oil. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add tomatoes, pinch of sugar, salt and pepper and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture through the fine disk of a food mill and then return to the saucepan. Reduce for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make your filling. In a bowl mix together ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg yolk, minced basil, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Fill your manicotti tubes with the filling mixture. When all the tubes are filled place them in a baking dish. Spoon marinara sauce over the tubes and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. (Can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight at this point or may be frozen.) When ready to cook, place in the oven and bake, covered for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until bubbling and heated through. Serve each portion with a sprig of fresh basil.

GRANDMA NANCY'S MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, 1 cup of the grated cheese, eggs, and pepper.
• Fill each crepe with approximately 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture centering it in a straight line down the middle. Top with the shredded mozzarella. Take one end of the crepe and fold over the cheese filling. Then take the other end and pulling slightly, fold over in a wrapping motion overlapping the stuffed portion of the crepe. Repeat until all 12 crepes are filled.
• Spread one cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large baking pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray. Place the filled manicotti in the pan, seam down, side-by-side. Do not overlap, and do not layer them. Spoon the remaining sauce over the manicotti. Be sure to cover all the pasta. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes or until the sauce is hot and bubbling.
• Remove from the oven and let stand for approximately 10 to 15 minutes before serving. This will give the manicotti time to settle which will make for easy serving. The manicotti will fall apart if served immediately.
• In a pan heat the olive oil. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes on medium heat. Do not let garlic burn. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, and pepper. Let tomato mixture cook for approximately 30 minutes.

THE BEST CHEESE MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350˚F. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish (or similar) and pour in 1 cup of the marinara sauce to evenly coat the bottom.
• Cook the manicotti according to the package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. They should still be firm enough for you to handle.
• In a large bowl, combine half of the mozzarella cheese, provolone, parmesan, dried parsley, Italian seasoning, black pepper, spinach, and egg.
• Using a piping bag or a spoon, stuff the manicotti with the cheese mixture. Place the manicotti in the baking dish and repeat until the dish is full. Top with the remaining marinara sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbling.
• Garnish with basil or parsley and serve.

MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place tomatoes in small bowl; cover with 1 cup boiling water. Let stand until softened, about 15 minutes. Dry with paper towel, and cut into 1/4-inch dice; transfer to medium bowl.
• Fill baking dish with very hot water; place manicotti sheets, one at a time, in water. Let stand 10 minutes until softened.
• To tomatoes, add the ricotta, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil, egg yolk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and mix well to combine. On a clean work surface, place one sheet of manicotti lengthwise. Spoon about 1/3 cup ricotta mixture along front edge; roll to form cylinder. Repeat filling-and-rolling process on all manicotti. Spray 9-by-13-inch baking dish with olive-oil spray; spoon about 1/4 cup tomato sauce on bottom.
• Transfer manicotti to the dish in a single layer; cover with remaining 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover with foil; bake 10 minutes. Remove foil; bake until top is browned and sauce is bubbling, 12 to 15 minutes. Garnish with remaining teaspoon parsley.

MAKE-AHEAD MANICOTTI

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta cheese and eggs until blended. Stir in spinach, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, sugar, salt and pepper. Stuff mixture into uncooked pasta shells.
• Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta shells in a single layer over the sauce. Pour the remainder of the sauce over the shells, cover dish, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake covered for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese, and bake for another 15 minutes.

SUSAN'S MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, sugar and parsley; season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
• Spread half the marinara in the bottom of a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. Fill each shell with ricotta mixture and arrange in an even layer in dish. Top with remaining 2 cups marinara. Cover with foil and bake until sauce is bubbling and shells are tender, about 40 minutes.
• Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over top, return to oven, and bake until cheese is browned in spots, about 10 minutes.

BAKED MANICOTTI WITH PEPPERONI MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.
• MEAT Pulse the pepperoni in a food processor until ground. Add (the already ground) beef and pulse until thoroughly combined. (This will blend the flavors better and also prep the beef so it's more tender rather than 'stringy out of the package when cooked).
• Transfer beef mixture to large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, and spices and cook over medium heat, breaking up mixture with wooden spoon, until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper towel-lined plate and reserve.
• SAUCE: Add spaghetti sauce to the meat in the saucepan and simmer until heated through (about 10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Begin making noodles and filling while sauce is simmering.
• NOODLES Pour 2 quarts very hot tap water into 13x9 inch baking dish. Place noodles into the water ONE AT A TIME (so as not to stick to each other). Soak noodles until pliable, about 8-10 minutes.
• FILLING In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients and the reserved meat. Mix well.
• ASSEMBLY Drain noodles on place them in a single layer onto kitchen or paper towels. Pour off water and dry baking dish. Spread half of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish.
• With the short side of the noodles facing you, spread 1/4 cup of the filling filling across the bottom of each and roll into a tube. Arrange the rolled manicotti, seam-side down, over the sauce in the baking dish. Spread remaining sauce over top. Cover with foil and bake until bubbling around edges, about 40 minutes.
• Remove foil and sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered 5 more minutes. ***IMPORTANT*** Let cool 15 minutes.before serving so the cheese 'sets' and is not gooey.