Sausage-Stuffed Manicotti

By Spookie

““I developed this recipe many years ago. Since then, I’ve lightened it with turkey sausage, and I use smaller amounts of flavorful cheeses, where a little goes a long way. Like most baked pastas, this dish requires some time, but it’s well worth the effort.” ―Beverly O’Ferrall, Linkwood, Md.

Ingredients

• 10 uncooked manicotti
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound  sweet turkey Italian sausage
• 1 1/2 cups  chopped onion
• 1 cup  chopped green bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons  butter
• 2 tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 2 cups  fat-free milk
• 1/8 teaspoon  black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups  (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups  tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Newman's Own)
• 1/4 cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Details

Servings 10
Adapted from find.myrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion and bell pepper to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender.

3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Return pan to heat; bring to a boil. Cook 6 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; stir in black pepper. Add 1/2 cup milk mixture to sausage mixture; stir well.

4. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. Spoon about 1/3 cup sausage mixture into each manicotti; arrange manicotti in a single layer in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella over manicotti; spread remaining milk mixture evenly over mozzarella. Top milk mixture with pasta sauce, spreading to cover. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until bubbly.