Tubes of
pasta stuffed w/
cheese,
meat, etc.
Manicotti w/ no-meat directions:
8 ounce package manicotti pasta
16 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese (though I can seem to only find them in 15 oz containers, this works fine)
16 oz. shredded, whole milk (not reduced moisture or skim) mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
~2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
~1/2 teaspoon salt
~1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
~32 ounces sauce (though I like more) -- this is the most important part, and I'm leaving the type of sauce up to you.
Optional
Olive Oil & Mushrooms (2 per noodle) and/or Green Peppers
1. Okay, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil, and put the pasta in for about 10 minutes until al dente. Then, I like to put the pasta on wax paper to keep them from sticking to each other.
2. Preheat to 350 degrees F (175 C)
3. Mix the cheeses, parsley, salt, pepper in a medium to large bowl, and this is the fun part, stuff the shells with your fingers. Be careful not to make the pasta split.
4. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with sauce. Place the Manicotti on the sauce. When you finish placement (it may get a little tight), pour the rest of the sauce on top of them.
5. Cover the dish in foil and place in the oven we preheated in step 2. Bake for ~40-45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for ~15-20 more minutes.
Feeds 4 comfortably. I like a bit of Garlic Bread with this dish, personally.
Regarding the optional ingredients:
Rancid_Pickle notes that he likes to use Mushrooms or Green Peppers to cap the ends of the pasta, which sounds like a neat idea. He also covers the ends in the olive oil to prevent burning, which shouldn't happen if you have a lot of sauce. Supposedly, the oil keeps them from getting too squishy if baked in the sauce, too. I'll try that next time I make this. Thanks, Pickle.