Manicotti

Growing up, my Mom would let us pick what she made for dinner on our birthdays. It was always fun to choose our favorite dish. Often times, this was my dinner of choice on my birthday. It’s hard to not love manicotti.

When I left for college, I wrote my moms recipe for manicotti on a recipe card and took it with me. This is one of the first dishes that I made for my husband while we were dating and one of the first dishes I learned to make when I first started cooking. Needless to say, this recipe has been well loved and very used. So used in fact, that when I went to make it the other night I realized that you could no longer read much of the writing on the recipe card. I did my best to make out the ingredients and to my delight, it tased just how I remembered.

Print Recipe

Manicotti

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

40 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 box manicotti shells cooked al dente' according the package directions
• 1 32 oz container ricotta cheese you can use part skim or whole fat
• 2 C shredded mozzarella cheese divided
• 1/2 C shredded parmesan cheese divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 22 oz jar good quality marinara sauce I prefer Rao's Homemade

Course Main Dish Cuisine Italian Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 40 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1 box manicotti shells cooked al dente' according the package directions 1 32 oz container ricotta cheese you can use part skim or whole fat 2 C shredded mozzarella cheese divided 1/2 C shredded parmesan cheese divided 2 eggs 1 Tbsp dried parsley 1 1/2 tsp Oregano 1 1/2 tsp basil 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 22 oz jar good quality marinara sauce I prefer Rao's Homemade

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook the manicotti shells according to the package directions, drain and set aside. The shells will stick together, so it is best to lay them in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
3. In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 Cups shredded mozzarella, 1/4 Cup of shredded parmesan, eggs, parsley, basil, oregano, nutmeg, salt and pepper. set aside.
4. In a 9x13" pan, pour half of the bottle of the marinara sauce in the bottom and spread evenly.

   
5. place approximately 3 tablespoons of the cheese mixture into each manicotti shell. It is best to use a smaller spoon in order to not tear the manicotti while stuffing them.

   
6. Repeat this step until all manicotti shells have been stuffed with the cheese mixture and placed in a single layer in the 9x13" baking dish.

   
7. Top with the remaining marinara sauce

   
8. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and shredded parmesan.

   
9. Bake for 40 minutes.