No Boil Stuffed Manicotti

First post!!!


I wanted to start off with a hearty Italian recipe that we always enjoy in my house. Stuffed Manicotti! This recipe takes out the extra step of boiling your cannelloni tubes al dente. Once they're boiled, the manicotti is so fragile and will often split when you're filling them. By cooking them for an hour in the marinara sauce, you can skip the hassle of boiling the pasta. This is a great recipe if you're looking for an easy manicotti.


This recipe makes 14 stuffed cannelloni which feeds quite a few people, so definitely half this recipe if you're only cooking for a few.


Test this one out on your family and let me know how it goes! (Full recipe at the bottom)


You'll need:

Ricotta cheese, Mozzarella cheese, 1 Italian Sausage link, 1 egg, Frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained), Parmesan cheese, Manicotti or Cannelloni, Italian seasoning, Marinara sauce, salt and pepper.


Preheat your oven to 350°. Cut open the ends of the sausage links and squeeze the meat into a large skillet. Brown the sausage and break the meat up into small chunks. Be careful to not crowd the meat!

Place a thin layer of marinara into the bottom of a greased 9"x13" baking dish and an 8"x8" baking dish. For space purposes, I'm only photographing the 9"x13".

Once the sausage has finished browning, combine the ricotta, 6 oz or 1.5 cups mozzarella, sausage, egg, spinach, parmesan, salt, pepper and 1 tsp Italian seasoning.

Once this has all been mixed together well, I empty the bowl into a gallon Ziploc bag. I've seen people use frosting bags for this, but I'm not a baker in the slightest so I never have these on hand! Cut about a 1/2" opening from the bottom corner of the bag.

Take each cannelloni tube and squeeze enough filling that it's just slightly spilling out the ends. If a chunk of sausage gets stuck which happens often) I just push it through with my fingers. Place in your baking dish with enough room for the pasta to expand.

Once completed, pour a lot of marinara sauce over your stuffed manicotti. Remember, these need enough liquid to cook the manicotti thoroughly. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese over the dish.


Cover with foil and bake for about an hour.

Voila! Beautiful stuffed pasta!

(Printer-friendly Recipe)


Ingredients:


15 oz ricotta
8 oz mozzarella, divided
8 oz or 2 links Italian sausage, browned
1 egg
10 oz package frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
14 Manicotti/Cannelloni tubes
2 jars Marinara sauce
Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper


1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Brown Italian sausage in large skillet.
3. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, 1.5 cups mozzarella, Italian sausage, egg, spinach, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
4. Pour a thin layer of marinara over the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish and an 8"x8" baking dish..
5. Pour mixture into a gallon Ziploc bag, cut open end and squeeze filling into tubes.
6. Place filled manicotti in the baking dish, leaving space for the pasta to expand.
7. Top with the remaining marinara sauce and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the top.
8. Cover with foil and bake for approximately 1 hour.