This delicious and classic Stuffed Manicotti, is the perfect “company’s coming” supper. Learn my trick for easily filling the noodles.
To begin, start a pot of salted boiling water for your manicotti noodles.
Dice an onion ad mince 2 cloves of garlic.
Saute the onion and garlic with a pound of ground beef or bison. Cook this until the meat is cooked through and browned. Break up the meat as much as you can with your utensil, into smaller pieces while it cooks. This will make it easier to fill the noodles. When they are cooked, drain off any excess grease if necessary.
In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of ricotta cheese, 2 teaspoons of basil, a teaspoon of parsley and your meat mixture.
Add in 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Mix these until completely combined.
Spoon the mixture into a quart or gallon sized zip-lock back. Press the mixture towards one of the corners and twist the top tight, just like you are about to pipe frosting onto a cake. Set this aside for now.
Cook the manicotti noodles in the boiling salted water for 6 minutes.
As soon as the noodles have finished cooking, immediately remove them from the water and place them on a non-stick cookie sheet. If they cook too long, they will be a nightmare to try and fill.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Pick up your bag of filling, and with a pair of kitchen shears, cut off about 3/4 inch of the tip. You want to make sure that the hole is slightly smaller than the opening of the manicotti noodle. It is best to start small and make it bigger if need be.
Pick up a noodle, stick the open tip of the bag into the end of the noodle and squeeze the filling in. You can work from both ends of the noodle if you need to. Repeat until you have filled all of the noodles. Place them in an oiled 9×13 baking dish as you go.
When all the noodles are filled and arranged in the baking dish, spread a 25 ounce jar of your favorite marinara sauce over the top.
Sprinkle an additional 1/3 cup of Parmesan and 2 cups of shredded mozzarella all over the top. Bake uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly golden in areas. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
Stuffed Manicotti
This delicious and classic Stuffed Manicotti, is the perfect “company’s coming” supper. Learn my trick for easily filling the noodles.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or bison
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp basil
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
- 2/3 c Parmesan cheese, divided
- 3 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 box manicotti noodles
- 1 jar (25 oz) marinara sauce
Instructions
- To begin, start a pot of salted boiling water for your manicotti noodles.
- Saute the onion and garlic with the ground beef or bison. Cook this until the meat is cooked through and browned. Break up the meat as much as you can with your utensil, into smaller pieces while it cooks. This will make it easier to fill the noodles. When they are cooked, drain off any excess grease if necessary.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, basil, parsley and your meat mixture.
- Add in 1/3 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese, a cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Mix these until completely combined.
- Spoon the mixture into a quart or gallon sized zip-lock back. Press the mixture towards one of the corners and twist the top tight, just like you are about to pipe frosting onto a cake. Set this aside for now.
- Cook the manicotti noodles in the boiling salted water for 6 minutes.
- As soon as the noodles have finished cooking, immediately remove them from the water and place them on a non-stick cookie sheet. If they cook too long, they will be a nightmare to try and fill.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Pick up your bag of filling, and with a pair of kitchen shears, cut off about 3/4 inch of the tip. You want to make sure that the hole is slightly smaller than the opening of the manicotti noodle. It is best to start small and make it bigger if need be.
- Pick up a noodle, stick the open tip of the bag into the end of the noodle and squeeze the filling in. You can work from both ends of the noodle if you need to. Repeat until you have filled all of the noodles. Place them in an oiled 9×13 baking dish as you go.
- When all the noodles are filled and arranged in the baking dish, spread marinara sauce over the top.
- Sprinkle an additional 1/3 cup of Parmesan and 2 cups of shredded mozzarella all over the top. Bake uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly golden in areas.
- Cool 5 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 352Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 503mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 30g
This data was estimated and provided by Nutritionix. Accuracy not guaranteed.
They look wonderful….sure want to try this one too…
Leaving you a pm in FB (later this eve. :) Re: your recipes !!
Maybe I added too much sauce last time, as they turned out quite squishy… Do you also recommend using bechamel sauce, or we can omit it?
Hi Amber, I don’t use a bechamel sauce with the manicotti. I find that the jar of sauce alone is plenty. Another tip is to make sure you don’t cook the manicotti too much. They should still be kind of firm when you fill them. They will absorb some of the moisture from the sauce while it bakes, and if they are too close to fully cooked, they will get overly soft. Hope that helps!