My husband says this dish is restaurant quality. It can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator overnight. Very filling and great served with a salad and garlic bread.
Prep: 20 mins Cook: 45 mins Total: 1 hr 5 mins Servings: 6
Ingredients
1 (15 ounces) container ricotta cheese
1 (10 ounces) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
½ cup minced onion
1 egg
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 (26 ounces) jars spaghetti sauce
1 ½ cups water
1 (8 ounces) package manicotti shells
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion, and egg. Season with parsley, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmesan. In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water.
Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until noodles are soft.
Per Serving: 576 calories; 20.5 g total fat; 82 mg cholesterol; 1410 mg sodium. 69 g carbohydrates; 29.8 g protein
Reviews From Followers:
At the risk of sounding like everyone else, this was really good. I made very few changes based on comments by other reviewers – I used minced garlic instead of powder, basil instead of parsley, and I added a scant ½ tsp. of red pepper flakes. I also sauteed the onion and garlic before adding. Stuffing the uncooked shells eliminated my normal irritation with making manicotti (which is the fragility of the shells). This pleased both my husband and my two kids and pleased the most critical of us – me. I loved loved loved that I was able to make it in the morning and just pop it in the oven at dinnertime. It made for a very fuss-free evening, and that in itself is worth lots of stars! Lucky for me it was yummy, too.
I have made Spinach Manicotti similiar to this recipe before. It always turns out excellent. I have tried both ways, pre-cooking the noodles, and adding water to the uncooked version of the recipe. I prefer adding the water, the shells are so much easier to stuff when uncooked. I usually freeze half of the recipe. So easy to just pop in oven next time around. It does not change the taste, etc. of the “sauce” by adding the water. The water is absorbed during the cooking process. Add garlic/cheese bread a salad and glass of wine for a true authenic “Italian Dinner.” I totally recommend this recipe.
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