Growing up, every Sunday we would have spaghetti for lunch. It was our favorite and never got old. Actually all Italian food was a hit with our family. One recipe that we occasionally made for special occasions was manicotti. It was super delicious and still is a favorite! So, I decided to share it with you all as well. The recipe is slightly adjusted from the original recipe, but it’s the way I make it. I just double the filling from the original recipe because I like the shells really full of cheesy goodness. “My” recipe is below.
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
Garlic Salt to taste
2 Cups Cottage Cheese, creamed-small curd is best
2 8oz packages of Mozarella Cheese-shredded
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1 8oz package Manicotti Shells cooked according to package
1 16oz jar spaghetti sauce-I use Ragu tomatoe, onion and garlic flavor
1 tsp oregano
Parmesan Cheese
Brown ground beef, seasoning with garlic salt and oregano. Drain fat.
While the meat is browning, cook noodles according to the package directions. After the noodles are fully cooked, rinse with cold water. This will allow you to handle the noodles more easily when filling them.
In a separate bowl mix cottage cheese, 2 cups (8 oz) mozzarella cheese and mayonnaise. Stir in beef. (sadly I forgot to take a picture of this…oh well)
Fill each manicotti shell with about 1/4 cup of filling or until stuffed as full as you like. You can certainly leave the shells in tact, but I’ve found that splitting them in half makes them so much easier to fill. Then when you place them in the pan, just place them seam side down.
In a 9″x13″ baking dish cover the bottom of the pan with spaghetti sauce to help keep the noodles from sticking.
Then place stuffed manicotti shells into baking dish and cover with remaining spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with lots of parmesan cheese and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes covered. Remove foil and bake for a remaining 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Enjoy!
