Cheesy Sausage and Tomato Manicotti (Oamc)

Submitted by barefootmommawv

"I've been dabbling in once-a-month cooking for a while now. When I saw this I thought how great it would be to add to my menu. This is another recipe from Southern Living magazine."

 

• Ready In: 54mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package uncooked manicotti noodles
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies (with garlic, oregano and basil)
• 1 lb Italian pork sausage
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)

directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse with cold water. Drain.
2. Process tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in a blender 20 seconds or until smooth. Set aside.
3. Remove casings from sausage, and discard. Cook sausage in large skillet over medium high heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Spoon into manicotti shells; arrange stuffed shells in lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
4. Pour tomato mixture over shells; sprinkle with remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake at 350manicotti for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let casserole stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle top with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
6. *********** OAMC Directions **********.
7. Casserole may be assembled and frozen up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight; bake, covered, at 350manicotti for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. If you prefer a smaller casserole, use 2 (11 in x 7 inch) baking dishes. Proceed as directed.

Reviews

[Michele7]

Very good filling. I used the cream cheese as in the directions. Walmart brand had the only box of jumbo shells so I purchased that. It was 12 oz. Thought that would be easier than using manicotti. I was able to stuff half the shells with the filling. I did fill them full but that's the best part. Will make double filling the next time. I made my own semi-spicy wine sauce with herbs so didn't need extra herbs or original sauce recipe so have no idea how that tastes. Keep checking the time for doneness.

 

[bluemoon downunder]

A delicious recipe well worth the effort of making in bulk! I doubled the recipe, used Recipe #273976 for my sauce and used Italian pork sausage meat from my Italian butcher's thereby avoiding the need to remove the casings! The ingredients listed cream cheese but the directions had no mention of cream cheese but included sour cream, so I ignored the reference to cream cheese and used low-fat sour cream. I used low-fat ricotta but regular mozzarella. I added some minced garlic, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme when stirring in the cream and cheeses. We enjoyed a small serve of this last night when it had finished cooking; the rest is now stashed in the freezer. Next time I make this, I'm going to add spinach when stirring in the cream and cheeses. Thank you for sharing this recipe, barefootmommawv. Made for 1-2-3 Hit Wonders.

 

[my3girlz]

This was awesome! Great recipe! Thank you!

 

[Jacki B]

tasty filling, I increased the mozzarella cheese by two cups, added herbed tomato paste, couldn't find toms with green chilles so I used plain diced tomatoes and added more herbs..Had some trouble filling the pasta. Next time I'll use a piping bag. I will make this again, my family loved it