- 8
Ingredients
- ¼ -½ of an 8 oz carton ricotta cheese or small curd cottage cheese
- ½ (8 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and sqeezed to get liquid out
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ onion, diced
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- ½ cup shredded parmesan, divided
- 1 egg + 1 tsp minced parsley
- 2 –3 cloves minced garlic
- ¼ c fresh basil chopped
- pepper and salt to taste
- 2 jars (28 oz ea.) spaghetti sauce
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 pkg (8 oz) manicotti shells
Preparation
Step 1
In a skillet over medium heat, brown beef and onions until cooked. Drain well. In a bowl, combine beef mixture with spinach, ¾ cup mozzarella, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
In another bowl combine water and spaghetti sauce. Pour 1-cup sauce on the bottom of an un-greased 13 x 9 pan. Then, stuff the manicotti shells with the meat and cheese mixture. Arrange stuffed shells over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over the shells. Cover, and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
Bake at 350 uncovered for 30 minutes, then add the remaining ¾ cup mozzarella and the ¼ cup parmesan on top. Bake for 10 – 20 more minutes or until heated through.
(** if you don’t like spinach, omit and add more of the cheese or meat) Yield 6 – 8 servings.