Saturday, March 3, 2012

Recipes: Spinach Manicotti

Let's just say I followed the recipe on this one, shall we? No? Alright. Really, other than using the manicotti shells I pretty much ignored what the recipe called for and created my own. I'm terrible at following directions it seems. But at 3am it should really be expected that I'm not going to pay any attention to things like a recipe :) I probably could have found a Manicotti recipe that was better suited to me but, again, 3am. Wasn't gonna happen.


I'm in the anti-mushroom crowd so those got left out. I used frozen spinach instead of fresh and threw in a couple extra ounces of ricotta cheese. Oh and I topped it all with a handful of shredded mozzarella instead of just Parmesan cheese. See, told ya I ignored the recipe. Ack. And I added about a cup of chopped onions. Lord, I'm terrible at this! It turned out delicious though so I'm feeling no shame in that what so ever. 



Not sure if I can really use it towards my goal of trying 52 new recipes but maybe? It was a completely new to me dish so I'm gonna fudge it a little and say yes.


Have you ever tried making Manicotti? What do you think of it? I thought it was kinda fun even if things did get a little messy trying to get them filled :)




Preheat over to 400 degrees. Serves 7


Recipe-ish:


1 box Manicotti
24 oz marinara sauce of your choice
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
15 oz ricotta cheese
salt/pepper to taste
a handful or two of onion, diced
12 oz frozen spinach, thawed, drained, chopped
1 cup Parmesan
2 Tbs water
  • Cook Manicotti for 7 minutes, drain and cool on a sheet pan. Set aside.
  • Heat oil with garlic and onions, saute. Season with salt and pepper
  • Thaw and drain spinach then add to onions/garlic mixture. 
  • Mix ricotta, spinach and onions, half the parmesan and spoon into a large ziploc bag
  • Snip one corner of the ziploc and use to fill each Manicotti shell
  • Grease a 9x13 inch dish. Pour half of the marinara sauce and water into the bottom of the dish. Then add the stuffed Manicotti. Cover the Manicotti with the remaining sauce and Parmesan cheese. 
  • Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes
  • At the very end I threw on shredded Mozzarella cheese and let that melt before removing from the oven






12 comments:

  1. This looks so yummy. I've never had Manicotti, so I don't know if it tastes good, but if it tastes as good as it looks, then I'll be very happy.
    Since I'm not much of a cook, I'm gonna print this recipe & kindly ask my mom to make it for me.
    Thanks for the recipe. :)

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    1. Hm. It's pretty tasty. Closest think I can think of to compare it to would be lasagna without the meat. Maybe? Hope you like it!

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  2. I love manicotti and certainly wish there was an easier way to stuff them. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I am definitely copying it down :)

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    1. I couldn't believe how slippery they got after filling the first couple. I'm sure it was pretty entertaining to watch :)

      Hope you enjoy them!

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  3. My son in law likes to make manicotti, I don't think he's tried this one. I'll have to show him your creation. We are big pasta eaters.

    seriousreader at live dot com

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    Replies
    1. Here too. Love a good pasta dish. I'm going to have to hunt some other manicotti recipes down I think :)

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  4. This looks really good! I love pastas (I think I should have been Italian, lol). I will definitely have to try this and experiment some with it.

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    1. I've said the same thing! I really should have been Italian. Love pastas.

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  5. I am sure I would love this! And probably would cheat and use frozen spinach too. One of my favourite food combinations is spinach and cheese.
    ( I am a vegetarian too: )

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    Replies
    1. LOL. It was worth the cheating. I'll prob use frozen again next time I make it too! :) Spinach and cheese is pretty delicious. I love making quiche with spinach too.

      Always nice to see another vegetarian! Woohoo! I'm not the only one! Down in the South I'm usually the only one in the group ;)

      ~Anna

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  6. Looks yum. And sad to hear, you are anti-mushrooms, I love those! I don't know what a manicotti is and it probably doesn't exist in my side of the world. :(

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    Replies
    1. LOL I'm probably the only vegetarian out there who is. They totally wig me out though and always have.

      I actually had a fairly hard time finding the manicotti shells myself. They're like big hallow tubes of pasta that are made to be stuffed. Only 15 or so come in each package so they're pretty big.

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~Anna

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