If you are looking for a delicious pasta dish to make for the family, look no further than this Italian Manicotti recipe. Super simple to make and packed full of flavor.
The first thing you will most likely notice about this recipe is that you do not need to cook the noodles before baking the dish in the oven. The noodles will cook in the sauce when baked in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.
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I dig this method as it can be a bit challenging to fill hot and soft noodles with the filling. Those of you who have done it before know exactly what I am talking about.
Tips
- The easiest way I know of for filling the manicotti shells with the filling is to use a cake decorating bag. Put the cheese and spinach filling in the bag and pipe it into the shell. If you don’t have a cake decorating bag you can use a ziploc bag by cutting a small piece of one of the bottom corners at an angle.
What I also like about this manicotti recipe is how versatile it is. You can easily substitute the ground beef for some ground turkey if you prefer.
My wife doesn’t like mushrooms so you can leave them out or substitute them for something like zucchini. You can also use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese.
If you prefer a cheesier pasta dish I suggest you use some shredded mozzarella cheese or Monterey Jack cheese instead of the parmesan cheese.
However, if you decide to modify this awesome Italian Manicotti recipe I am certain you will absolutely love it!
Serving Suggestions
What does better with a great pasta dish than some Cheesy Garlic Bread. This is the best garlic bread you will ever have!
Gather your Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients to make this Italian Manicotti recipe (see recipe card for quantities): Lean Ground Beef, Minced Garlic, Yellow Onion, Diced Tomatoes, White Mushrooms, Fresh Basil, Italian Seasoning, Frozen Chopped Spinach, Parmesan Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Ground Nutmeg and Manicotti Shells.
How to Make Italian Manicotti
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Add the garlic and onion and reduce the heat to low. Let simmer for 10 minutes then drain any excess fat.
- Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, Italian seasoning and salt to taste. Mix well. Bring to boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a bowl, combine the spinach, cottage cheese and ground nutmeg. Set aside.
- Spoon about 1/3 of the beef mixture evenly over the bottom of greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Fill the uncooked manicotti shells with the spinach mixture. Place the filled shells on top of the beef mixture in the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining beef mixture evenly over the top of the manicotti shells. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top of the beef mixture.
- Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
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Italian Manicotti
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Ingredients
- 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
- 2 Tsp Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 Yellow Onion, chopped
- 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes
- 1 Cup White Mushrooms, sliced
- 2 Tsp Fresh Basil Leaves, diced
- 1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
- 10 oz Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed & drained
- ½ Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 16 oz Cottage Cheese
- ¼ Tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 14 Manicotti Shells, al dente
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Add the garlic and onion and reduce the heat to low. Let simmer for 10 minutes then drain any excess fat.
- Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, Italian seasoning and salt to taste. Mix well. Bring to boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a bowl, combine the spinach, cottage cheese and ground nutmeg. Set aside.
- Spoon about 1/3 of the beef mixture evenly over bottom of greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Fill the uncooked manicotti shells with the spinach mixture. Place the filled shells on top of the beef mixture in the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining beef mixture evenly over the top of the manicotti shells. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top of the beef mixture.
- Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
This italian Manicotti was very tasty. I did use a mixture of Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and it turned out great. Very flavourful and was even better the second day. A keeper in my book.