Caught My Husband Manicotti

I wanted to share an easy recipe for manicotti that I have nicknamed "Caught My Husband Manicotti." My husband's mom is an amazing cook. He grew up on the best food there is and was spoiled rotten. Anything I cooked when we first started dating was always too healthy and did not compare to her extravagant southern cooking....until I made manicotti. Apparently, this is a dish she never cooked. If she did...God Bless Her... because he does not remember. When I served this to him the first time I knew immediately I had a secret recipe weapon up my sleeve. Ha!

I think manicotti may seem intimidating if you have never made it before. However, the prep time is only around 20 minutes. I usually bake two batches and freeze one for a later date.

Ingredients:

12 large manicotti shells

3-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 tbsp dried basil

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cook manicotti according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cool water.
3. In a bowl, mix 2 cups mozarella with ricotta, basil, and bread crumbs. Spoon mixture into ziploc bag. Cut off the tip of the bag and carefully stuff pasta shells with mixture. (If you accidentally rip a shell it is not the end of the world. It still tastes the same! Trust me.)

4. Spoon 1-2 cups spaghetti sauce into baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta shells over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the manicotti shells and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for ten minutes longer. ( I have used canned parmesan cheese before and it still tastes good.)

6. Enjoy!!

Parties I linked to:

 

http://www.crystalandcomp.com/