Baked Manicotti with Meat Sauce (ATK)

By hmp13

Ingredients

• Meat Sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 ounces sliced deli pepperoni
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• Manicotti
• 3 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
• 16 lasagna noodles

Preparation

Step 1

Grind Meat: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse onion and pepperoni in food processor until coarsely ground. Add beef and pulse until thoroughly combined.

Make sauce: Transfer beef mixture to large saucepan and cook over medium heat, breaking up mixture with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper towel-lined plate and reserve. Add tomato paste, garlic, and pepper flakes to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (At this point, sauce can be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days.)

Prepare filling: Combine ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup provolone, egg, salt, pepper, basil and reserved meat mixture in large bowl. Cook lasagna noodles. Drain noodles on kitchen towel.

Assemble dish: Spread half of the sauce over bottom of baking dish. Top each noodle with ¼ cup cheese filling, roll, and arrange seam-side down, over sauce in baking dish. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and provolone. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Serve.