Old World Manicotti

I love Italian food! We don’t go a week without having some kind of Italian inspired dish for dinner. It’s so easy to make, and tastes so good homemade, we never go out to a restaurant for anything Italian. Why pay for something you can make cheap, easy and delicious at home? At the request of a friend, I am going to share my manicotti recipe with you today.

Ingredients

12 large manicotti shells

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (you can use 2 tablespoons of dried basil if you don’t have fresh on hand)

1 26-ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce, divided.

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cool water. Let pasta dry on paper towels.

For filling- In medium blow, stir together 3 cups mozzarella with ricotta and basil. Using a teaspoon, carefully stuff pasta shells with prepared cheese mixture. (I actually just line some filling on a butter knife and insert it into the shells. It’s much easier this way!)

Spoon 2 cups spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over top of pasta. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

Bake manicotti for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes longer.

Remove and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

Serve.