RedCipes

Make-Ahead Manicotti

Recipe By Sandir
Rating
Published Apr 9th
Prep 30m Cook 1h Additional - Ready In 1h 30m
Servings 6 servings Calories 506.6

I have used this basic principle and adapted it to make stuffed shells and lasagna. If making lasagna, I buy a second, smaller jar of spaghetti sauce. I always feel like I need a bit more. Merry Manicotti!

Recipe Ingredients

  • 1 pint ricotta cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 ½ tablespoons white sugar
  • ⅓ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 12 manicotti shells
  • 1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

Cooking Directions

  1. 1 In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta cheese and eggs until blended. Stir in spinach, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, sugar, salt and pepper. Stuff mixture into uncooked pasta shells.
  2. 2 Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta shells in a single layer over the sauce. Pour the remainder of the sauce over the shells, cover dish, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
  3. 3 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake covered for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

  • Calories 506.6
  • Carbohydrate 55.8 g
  • Cholesterol 112.3 mg
  • Fat 19.1 g
  • Fiber 6.4 g
  • Protein 28.8 g
  • Saturated Fat 9.5 g
  • Sodium 1057.8 mg
  • Sugar 18.4 g

Reviews

  1. jpmcminn Mar 20, 2007 04:27 PM
    I loved this recipe! It takes just a few minutes to prepare and stuff the shells and best of all it doesn't create a huge mess in the kitchen if you do it before bed like I did. Like another person said I would add more sauce as it cooks because the noodles on the - Read more ...
  2. Nicole S. Jan 19, 2007 04:16 AM
    Very simple and very tasty! I recommend putting the filling mixture in a large ziplock bag and cutting a corner off so you have a "pastry bag" type thing to pipe the filling in.
  3. Stillxling Nov 2, 2005 03:25 PM
    Awesome! I made this the night before (and used 1.5 jars of sauce and half the spinach as some recomended). We had company over and there was nothing but positive comments! The ziploc was also a great idea! This is 100% a winner!! Will make again and again...
  4. NIVES123 Jan 25, 2005 04:16 AM
    Recipe was easy the sugar must have brought out the cheese flavor?? I used a combination of ricotta and cottage cheese and used only about 8 oz of spinach and more sauce. I also made a whole bunch of "make ahead" by stuffing the manicotti and kept them in the plastic tray that came with - Read more ...
  5. TRINITIK May 3, 2004 07:46 PM
    Came out perfect.......way easier than trying to stuff cooked shells with filling. Also, to make it easier on me I put filling ingredients in a zip lock bag, snip one corner with the scissors and squeeze into the shells.
  6. Stephanie Dellarusso Apr 23, 2004 01:21 PM
    This is a wonderful recipe. I would suggest, depending on your taste buds, decide if you would prefer a sweeter Manicotti or not, the sugar did not agree with my taste for Manicotti. If people think it has a bland taste, it not just about the taste, it's supposed to be mild on flavor. It's - Read more ...
  7. BECBEC Oct 1, 2003 08:45 PM
    A WINNER! I made only a few chamges....I used 2 jars of sauce in their entirety; halved the amount of spinach called for and added a half pound of sweet Italian sausage (crumbled and browned)to the filling. We are hosting a dinner party next month and this recipe will be on the menu for sure. - Read more ...
  8. BABSKITCHEN Sep 12, 2003 12:27 AM
    Average. Sugar made it too sweet and I would cut back a little on the spinach. Use plenty of sauce as it tends to be dry.
  9. LAQ1013 Jan 29, 2003 01:18 PM
    I was VERY disappointed with this dish! Served it last night for dinner guests and was sad to see they didn't clean their plates! I found this dish to be dry. The long cooking time is required to cook the noodles but by the time the noodles are done the sauce and filling was dry - Read more ...

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