Ricotta Manicotti with Tomato Sauce

By kimvess

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 package (8 ounces) manicotti, cooked, drained, and cooled
• 2 containers (15 ounces each) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 ounce dried mushrooms such as shiitake (optional), soaked and drained (see cooks' note), and finely chopped (optional)
• 4 cups Basic Tomato Sauce (See below)

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from marthastewart.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cook pasta, drain, and cool. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, thyme, oregano, and 1 cup Parmesan. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir in mushrooms, if desired.

Using a plastic bag for filling, stuff cooled pasta shells (about 3 tablespoons ricotta mixture in each).

Coat bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 2 cups tomato sauce. Line up manicotti in baking dish, and cover with 2 cups sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan. Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes.


Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 cans (28 ounces) whole tomatoes in juice
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Basic Tomato Sauce:

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Cook 1 small diced onion and 2 minced garlic cloves, stirring frequently, until translucent, 2 to 4 minutes.
2. Add two 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes in juice and 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano. Simmer, stirring occasionally, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.


Cook's Note

Cover mushrooms with warm water, soak 20 minutes or until soft. Lift from liquid, rinse under cool water, pat dry.