Manicotti (or Stuffed Shells)

Growing up my grandma (or Granny as we call her) used to make Manicotti a lot when we would come over to eat.  It was always one of my favorite things.  So I was super excited when I came across this recipe in a magazine a few years back.  I tried it and fell in love with it.  This is some seriously satisfying comfort food!

Before I give you the recipe and tell you how to make it, you need to make a decision before you get started.  Do you want to make Manicotti, which is made with manicotti shells (a long tube shaped pasta) or do you want to make stuffed shells (which uses jumbo shells)?  They are essentially the same except for the type of pasta you use in the dish.  I used to always make Manicotti until one time I couldn't find the manicotti shells and settled for the stuffed shells.  Since then, I have never gone back to the Manicotti.

If I don't tell you why and you end up using the manicotti shells, you may end up cursing the ground that I walk on!  With the manicotti shells, you have to put your filling into a bag (I used a plastic baggie with the tip cut off) and pipe the cheese mixture into the pasta.  It doesn't sound too hard until your hand starts cramping up on you on the 3rd one and you still have 12 more to go.  With the stuffed shells, you can merely use a spoon to scoop up some of the cheese mixture, open up the shell with your hand, and place the mixture inside.  Quicker, easier, and less painful for your hand.  So the choice is yours.  But I'm telling you, you have been warned.

Here's what you need to make it:
2 cups spaghetti sauce (We use Ragu Garden Combination for this dish.  So Good!  Just saying...)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 ricotta cheese (We use the fat free version.)
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Basil Pesto Sauce  (This can be found in the pasta aisle by all the spaghetti sauce.)
Manicotti Shells or Jumbo Shells, cooked and rinsed in cold water

Here's how you make it:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce on bottom of 9x13 inch baking dish.  Mix egg, cheeses, and pesto sauce until well blended.  Fill shells with cheese mixture.

2.  Once filled, place shells in baking dish.  Pour remaining 1 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce over manicotti.  Cover with foil.

3.  Bake 40 minutes or until heated through.

Easy, Peezy, Lemon Squeezy!

View Printable Recipe.

I just want to make a note about the spaghetti sauce.  The recipe calls for 2 cups.  When I first made the recipe I just bought a standard size jar of spaghetti sauce and used that but we like sauce and felt that there just wasn't enough.  So now I use 2 jars when I make this.  It may be something you have to experiment with to figure out what your family likes best.

Oh, and the pesto is technically optional, but if you didn't use it your filling would be pretty bland, and well, I'm just not a bland kind of gal.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
The-M-O-M