I love Italian food! We don’t go a week without having some kind of Italian
inspired dish for dinner. It’s so easy to make, and tastes so good homemade, we
never go out to a restaurant for anything Italian. Why pay for something you can
make cheap, easy and delicious at home? At the request of a friend, I am going
to share my manicotti recipe with you today.
Ingredients
12 large manicotti shells
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (you can use 2 tablespoons of dried basil
if you don’t have fresh on hand)
1 26-ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce, divided.
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9 inch baking dish with nonstick
cooking spray.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cool water.
Let pasta dry on paper towels.
For filling- In medium blow, stir together 3 cups mozzarella with ricotta
and basil. Using a teaspoon, carefully stuff pasta shells with prepared cheese
mixture. (I actually just line some filling on a butter knife and insert it into
the shells. It’s much easier this way!)
Spoon 2 cups spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed
pasta over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over top of pasta. Sprinkle
with remaining mozzarella.
Bake manicotti for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake for 10
minutes longer.
Remove and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve.
