Recipe: Manicotti

I turned on the TV this weekend and it happened to be on Detroit public TV, which is odd as I don't watch that channel...for the most part. Anyway, Cook's Country was on and they had a recipe for easy manicotti. If you've ever worked with manicotti shells before you know that they're a pain in the rear. You have to boil them, dry them and then try and stuff them without busting them at the seams. It's not as easy as it might seem. Well, the fabulous people at America's Test Kitchen found a way to get around that problem. Instead of using manicotti shells, they found that you could use lasagna noodles and just roll them up. In fact, they found that you could even use no boil noodles and get the same results. I was a bit skeptical but after trying it, I will never make manicotti the old way again!

8 no boil lasagna noodles
0.5 pounds ground beef
0.5 pounds ground sausage (or you could 0.25 pounds pepperoni and grind it)
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced or pressed
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
0.5 tbs. tomato paste

1.5 c low fat ricotta cheese
2 c Italian blend cheese
0.5 package frozen spinach
1 egg
salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning to taste


Place noodles in a roasting or large cake pan. Pour 2-3 quarts of salted boiling water over noodles. Soak in water until pliable (5-8 minutes). Remove from water and dry in towels. Cut noodles in half and set aside.

In a pan, over medium heat, cook onion and meat until no longer pink. Remove half cup of mean mixture and set aside. Add tomato paste, garlic, pepper flakes and crushed tomatoes to pan. Cook over medium low heat for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, combine ricotta, 1.5 cups of the Italian blend, spinach (thawed and squeezed dry), reserved meat mixture, seasonings and egg.

Lay noodles on counter. Evenly distribute mixture onto noodles. Roll noodles. They will stay because they're a bit tacky.

In a large casserole dish, place 1/3 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan. Lay the manicotti in a single layer. Cover with the remaining meat sauce. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove cover, sprinkle remaining cheese over top and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I found this to be pretty easy and incredibly tasty. It's a bit involved but served with a salad and garlic bread it's a great weekend dinner with really excellent leftovers for the week!