Cheese, Italian Sausage, & Spinach Stuffed Manicotti with homemade Marinara. Takes a bit a prep, but after the first bite, you forget about it. Lol 1 pkg Manicotti Pasta 4 Italian Sausage Links (I chose mild so my kids would still eat it, but go with hot or sweet to your liking. I used about 2/3 pound.) 1 Cup Chopped FRESH Spinach (or substitute with Kale or Broccolini/Broccoli Rabe) 1 29 oz Can Tomato Sauce 1 15 oz Can Diced Tomatoes 1 Tbls Italian Seasoning 1 Med-Lg Onion finely diced 4-6 Garlic Cloves finely diced (to your liking) 15 oz. Ricotta 1/2 C Cream Cheese 3 Cups Shredded Mozzarella 1 Egg (Beaten) Olive Oil S & P (to your liking) Preheat the oven to 350*. Cook pasta following package instructions. (It should be slightly before al dente, so I cooked mine for 6 minutes.) In a sauce pan, sweat 1/2 of the onions and garlic. Add S & P to taste. Once nearly sweated, add Italian Seasoning. Stir and cook another minute or so. Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a slight boil then reduce to simmer. (It will simmer for 20-30 minutes while you get the other ingredients ready.) Remove sausage from casings (or bulk sausage from package) and brown it in about 1 Tbls of olive oil. Half-way through cooking, add remaining onions and garlic. Add S & P to taste. Once browned, turn off heat and stir in fresh spinach. The heat in the pan will cook the spinach. While the sausage mixture browns, make the cheese mixture. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of the mozzarella, all of the ricotta, cream cheese, egg, and S & P to taste. Once sausage mixture is done, drain the fat from the pan, and add it to the cheese mixture. Mix well. Layer 1/3 of the marinara into the bottom of a 13x9 pan. (I would recommend cooking spray if you are not using a non-stick pan.) Spoon the cheese/sausage mixture into a gallon ziploc bag, cut the corner, and fill the manicotti. Lay them on the sauce in the pan as you go. Once you have all of the manicotti filled, ladle another 1/3 of the tomato sauce over the top to coat all if the pasta. **Cover with foil and bake at 350* for 35 minutes. Remove foil, top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and let rest about 10 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce and some crusty bread. Mmmm. **Perfect for a make-ahead meal. If you refrigerate it before baking, cooking time will vary to around an hour or possibly a little longer.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 23:57:32 +0000
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