Easy Manicotti

HEP MEP's Note:

No cooking the manicotti, so that's the easy part. Sometimes I will add some frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed dry. A real easy meal!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lb ricotta cheese
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese , grated
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese , grated
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 egg , slightly beaten
• nutmeg (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon parsley , finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 (5 ounce) package manicotti , uncooked
• 1 (15 ½ ounce) jar prepared meatless marinara sauce (or homemade, if desired)

Directions:

1. Combine Ricotta, Mozzarella, grated Parmesan, sugar, egg, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Stuff uncooked manicotti generously with the cheese mixture, from both ends.
3. Arrange manicotti in a single layer in a baking pan.
4. Bring sauce to a boil and pour over manicotti, covering completely.
5. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil, crimping the edges to seal tightly.
6. Bake in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes.
7. Remove foil; sprinkle generously with additional grated cheese.
8. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes more.

Reviews

[Bobbie]

Not only was this easy but it was really good. I put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the dish -- I always do that with lasagna -- prevents the noodles from sticking. When I prepared the sauce, I also added some browned Italian sausage and a few mushrooms. I'm assuming the parsley goes in with the cheese mixture -- that's where I put it. I made this in loving memory of MEP -- and for her Cook-a-Thon.

["mom of girls"]

I'm glad that HEP MEP posted this recipe/techinique so that I could try it. It just didn't work for me but seemed to work for so many of you. I'm sorry to hear about her death and I mean no disrespect with the following review:

I'm giving this 3 stars because I found that it didn't make anything faster for me than my normal method =( I really did want to love this technique. I actually found that this made the noodles harder to stuff even when using the zip lock baggie trick. I also noticed that the noodles came out el dente which is not how I like them. Sorry...