The Best Italian Manicotti

Submitted by weekend cooker

"This manicotti is great, if followedcorrectly. Been making this for about 10 years now."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 6-8 dishes
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (8 ounce) package fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
• 1⁄2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 (10 ounce) boxes frozen spinach, thated, well drained
• 3⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 (16 ounce) carton small curd cottage cheese, drained
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 14 manicotti, cooked al dente

directions

1. Ina large skillet, brown ground beef, then add garlic and onion, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes and drain.
2. Add tomatoes, and the tomato liquid, mushrooms, fennel seed, basil, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, and pepper and stir to mix well.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. In a seperate bowl, stir together well drained spinach, half the parmesan, cottage cheese, nutmeg, and pepper.
5. In a sprayed 9x13 inch baking dish, spoon 1/3 of the beef sauce evenly over bottom of dish.
6. Fill manicotti shells with spinach mixture and place on beef layer in baking dish.
7. Repeat until all spinach mixture has been used in manicotti shells.
8. Pour remaining beef sauce evenly over manicotti shells to cover.
9. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over top.
10. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until shells are tender.

Reviews

[CaliforniaJan]

This is a very good recipe, I substituted ground turkey for the beef because that's a personal preference. Otherwise, I bumped up the seasonings and added about 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes to give it a little zip. This makes a large casserole so I'll probably freeze some for a later dinner. Thanks for posting.

 

[ellie_]

Very good but the time stated is off by about 1 hour. I used low fat cottage cheese which worked out fine. i didn't have as much spinach or mushrooms as stated but it was still great for dinner. Thanks for sharing!

 

[tweeter74]

I cooked this for a group of dinner guests and they loved it. This was the most easy recipe to make and the flavor is wonderful.

 

[Sharon123]

I made this vegetarian by using veggie crumbles for the meat. I halved the recipe and had enough to fill 7 manicotti. Thanks for a great dinner! Made for PRMR game.

 

[CookingONTheSide]

This is very good! I made it as stated except I used a low-fat cottage cheese. I love the spinach in this! Thanks for sharing.