Easy Manicotti

I love a good homemade pasta dish.  Especially if it's easy and I know it's something the family will enjoy.  There's nothing difficult about making this manicotti.  Just gather some yummy ingredients, mix together, stuff, and bake.  

Boil manicotti pasta as directed on the box.  You'll need about 12 shells, depending on how full you stuff them.  You can use a jar of spaghetti sauce or your own homemade sauce.  I had some homemade spaghetti sauce in the freezer.  While the pasta was cooking, I defrosted and thoroughly heated the sauce.

Mix together ricotta, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, one egg, garlic powder, and italian seasoning.

Drain the pasta and set aside.

There are 2 ways to "stuff" the shells.  You can hold the tube open and use a small spoon to stuff the cheese filling inside.  Or sometimes, the shells will come apart down the middle while boiling.  You can just place some filling down the middle, wrap the pasta around it, and place seam side down in a baking dish.  Either method works fine.

Place all the stuffed shells in a 13 x 9 baking dish, lightly sprayed with canola or olive oil.

Pour sauce all over the pasta.

Sprinkle some mozzarella all over.  Then cover with non-stick foil or foiled sprayed with oil to keep the cheese from sticking to it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Uncover and cook about 5 more minutes.

Serve with garlic bread and salad and enjoy this yummy dish.

Easy Manicotti

12 manicotti shells

Homemade spaghetti sauce or one jar of sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 container part-skim ricotta

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil pasta shells according to box directions.  Heat spaghetti sauce.  Mix together 1 cup mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, egg, garlic powder and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Drain pasta and let them cool slightly.  Stuff shells with cheese filling.  Place filled pasta in a 13 x 9 dish, lightly sprayed with oil.  Cover pasta with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella over the sauce.  Cover with non-stick foil or foil lightly sprayed with oil.  Cook for 25- 30 minutes.  Uncover and cook 5 more minutes.

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Spaghetti Sauce

I've been looking for a good homemade spaghetti sauce. It's probably my family's favorite meal. So, I turned to my favorite cook, Pioneer Woman, and tried her recipe. It's tasty, delicious, and of course, very easy to make. I didn't make the meatballs, just the sauce, but you do what suits your family.

Saute one diced onion and 3 cloves of minced garlic in just a little bit of olive oil in a dutch oven.

Pour in one 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes and one 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Add 1 tsp. of sugar. Then for flavor, add salt, pepper, parsley, and italian seasoning to taste. Mix well. Cook for about 20 minutes over medium heat.

Pour sauce over cooked spaghetti. Voila!!!

1 diced onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

28 oz. whole tomatoes

28 oz. crushed tomatoes

1 tsp. sugar

Salt, pepper, parsley, italian seasoning to taste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a dutch oven. Add both cans of tomatoes and sugar. Add seasonings to taste and mix well. Cook at medium heat for 20 minutes.