Three Cheese Stuffed Manicotti Recipe
A Carnival of flavor. Simply the best stuffed manicotti recipe on the web today! Crazy delicious Italian comfort food at its finest!
I know you maybe thinking “wow, this Italian Pasta recipe sounds too much like work”. Hello??? Allow yourself to think ahead… to those moments as you are savoring every decadent forkful , and your family and guests are raving about your cooking skills! This recipe for stuffed manicotti is well worth your time spent.
Italian Creation
I know that I truly love the anticipation of a stupendous Italian creation after I slaved all day in the kitchen. Wait a minute, slave is not a word that I would use to describe what I do in the kitchen. (Although my husband may not agree lol) Seriously, the highlight of my day is when I boot it for the kitchen to start preparing the evening meal. (Or is it my glass of wine that I cook with? Mmmmm.)
Serve with Italian green salad dressed with Geeg Toscano’s amazing artichoke dressing!
Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started making one of Michele Romano’s favorite top secret Italian family recipes , my heavenly stuffed manicotti recipe!
Michele Romano Recipes
Stuffed Manicotti Recipe
Filling Ingredients:
- 1 1lb ground beef
- 2 hot or mild Italian sausages, (take out of casings)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil for frying
- 1 egg
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1-1/2 tsp oregano
- ½ cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 1-1/4 cup Italian ricotta cheese, (or cottage cheese)
- 2 tbsp green onions, chopped
- 1 package of 14 manicotti noodles
- 2 cups fresh grated mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup goes in meat mixture)
Preparation:
- Fry ground beef, Italian sausage until browned, set aside, let cool.
- In a large bowl, mix egg, seasonings, Romano cheese, ricotta cheese, green onions and ½ cup of the mozzarella cheese together.
- Add in cooled meat mixture, mix well.
- Prepare manicotti noodles: Drop gently in boiling water, (7 at a time for 4 minutes) then drain and rinse with cold tepid water to stop from cooking.
- Gently stuff each manicotti noodle using small spoon, being careful not to split.
- Place in 9×13 baking dish.
Sauce recipe:
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- ½ green pepper, chopped in small cubes
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 3 tomato paste cans water
- 1 28 oz. can tomatoes, or 4 cups home canned tomatoes
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- ¼ Italian parsley, chopped
Sauce preparation, in a saucepan:
- Sauté onion, garlic, green pepper in oil for 4 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, simmer for 3 minutes, add water, tomatoes and sauce.
- Add in salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and fresh basil.
- Simmer sauce for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cover stuffed manicotti with prepared sauce.
- Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over top.
- Cover with tinfoil.
- Bake for 35 minutes, removing foil for last 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbling on top.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes sauce + 35 minutes in oven= 95 minutes
Serves: 8
Live Long and Mangia!!
Health Benefits
Italian Parsley is loaded with nutrition. Parsley is a good source of vitamin K, A, folic acid, vitamin C, potassium, as well as fiber. It also contains flavonoids which makes it a strong antioxidant, thus helping reduce free radicals and inflammation. Parsley has iron in it and is a natural breath freshener as well.
For more on eating healthy, I find The Health Benefits Times very informative.