Manicotti Alla Romana

"Manicotti stuffed with meat, spinach and cheese, coated with tomato and white sauces. Delicious and a tricky way to get kids to eat spinach! This takes a little time but is a beautiful, special dish. Great with breadsticks!"
 
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Ready In:
1hr 20mins
Ingredients:
19
Serves:
8-10
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ingredients

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directions

  • To prepare the filling: Saute onions in oil over medium heat until soft. Add garlic, saute 1 minute. Remove from pan to a large bowl. Brown meat in same skillet; season with salt and Italian seasoning. Drain and cool.
  • Cook spinach in microwave, covered, with a little water for 2-3 minutes. Drain well and add to the bowl with onions, along with the eggs, cottage cheese and meat. Mix well.
  • To prepare the white sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk in the flour and bouillon granules till lumps are gone. Slowly add the half and half. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.
  • Cook manicotti shells in boiling salted water for half the time indicated on package (5 minutes.) Drain and cover with a damp towel to prevent shells from drying and cracking.
  • Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 10x14 baking dish.
  • Gently stuff the manicotti with meat mixture, placing in baking dish. Keep the manicotti covered while working.
  • Spoon the white sauce evenly over the manicotti.
  • Spoon the remaining red sauce over the white sauce, being careful not to mix the two.
  • Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
  • Sprinkle the mozzarella and romano cheeses on top and bake, uncovered, 10 more minutes or till cheese is melted.

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Reviews

  1. i love this recipe!!!! i used italian sausage instead of the beef and pork mixture and also added mozzarella to the ricatta mixture. this recipe does take a bit of work, but it is well worth it for those special occasions!!! i cooked this for my italian husband and he absolutely loves it!!
     
  2. I tried the basic idea of this recipe using the white and red sauces. The stuffing i did using my own recipe, but I really liked the idea of both sauces. What an outstanding idea!! I use a homemade marinera sauce and the stuffing add goat cheese, otherwise it's fairly similar. I highly recommend the 2 sauce idea!! It brings the manicotti to a whole new level! It is one o fmymost requested recipes now in class.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a stay at home mom with 3 adorable children-an 8 year old daredevil son, a 5 1/2 year old princess and a wild little 2 year old girl! I love to cook, and like having my little helpers in the kitchen! I usually love recipes that are completely from scratch (I still love them actually) but right now my focus is on having any kind of food ready by mealtime! It's a little crazy here lately. Every summer we have a huge organic garden, apple orchard and raspberry and blueberry patches, along with a woods full of wild foods waiting for me to learn what they are so I can collect them. I'm learning about wild mushrooms first, so if anyone has any tips, let me know. We also eat wild venison which my husband and I hunt ourselves. It's our favorite meat, since it's lean, organic and cheap! Some of my hobbies are: hiking, biking, rock climbing, gardening, playing in the water with my kids, or just swinging in the hammock with a good book. I go stir crazy if I spend too much time inside.
 
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