I make this recipe a lot. First of all, everyone in my family will eat it (a huge win when dealing with a picky toddler!). Second of all, I can prepare the entire dish during nap time to heat up later. Lastly, spinach and ricotta stuffed manicotti shells are delicious!
I adapted my recipe from this great manicotti recipe I found on Pinterest. I changed it to save time and to be able to prepare it ahead of time.
Below I have described the directions in detail the way in which I prepare it ahead of time. If making the pasta dish to be eaten right away make sure to preheat the oven to 425 first!
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
While you are waiting for the water to boil, wash and cut off the stems of the spinach. Saute the fresh spinach in a tablespoon of olive oil until it is wilted. Let it cool in the pan as you are completing the next steps.
When the water starts to boil, add all the noodles to the pot and boil for 7 minutes. I always boil all 14 manicotti noodles that come in the package I get. Although you only need 10 for this recipe, undoubtedly a few noodles will tear and then there should be plenty for backups. Also, if your child refuses to eat ricotta you can serve the unstuffed noodles with the tomato sauce.
When the noodles are cooked, drain out the water and rinse with cool water.
In a large saucepan, saute the minced garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil until fragrant. Then add the can of crushed tomatoes, a tablespoon of basil, a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and a tablespoon of minced onion. Stir together and let simmer.
Now the spinach should be cool enough to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Honestly, I just do this by hand in small handfuls and it works just fine.
Chop up the spinach.
Combine the chopped spinach, ricotta, and parmesan.
Stuff 10 manicotti shells with the spinach/ricotta mixture (I do this using my fingers).
Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick spray and place the noodles in the pan. Pour the tomato sauce over the noodles.
At this point, I cover and refrigerate the pan until I am ready to heat it up but it can certainly go straight into the oven.
Once you are ready to heat the noodles up, preheat the oven to 425 and cook for approximately 20 minutes.
To serve, I often sprinkle more parmesan on top. Typically as a side, I serve asparagus. I put the asparagus in a 9×9 and throw it in the oven for the last 10 minutes of the manicotti baking so the dishes can be ready at the same time.
Manicotti noodles filled with a mixture of cooked spinach, ricotta, and parmesan cheese. The noodles are topped with a red sauce and baked in the oven for a delicious pasta dish.
Preheat the oven to 425.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the manicotti noodles and cook for 7 minutes. Once the noodles are cooked drain and rinse them with cool water.
Over medium heat saute the fresh spinach in a tablespoon of olive oil until wilted. Remove from heat but keep the spinach in the pan until cool enough to handle.
In a large pan add another tablespoon of olive oil to cook the garlic in. Once the garlic is fragrant add the crushed tomatoes, basil, minced onion, and Italian seasoning. Let simmer until the noodles have all been stuffed.
When the spinach is cool enough squeeze out as much liquid as you can before chopping it up. Mix it with the ricotta and parmesan.
Stuff 10 manicotti noodles full of the spinach/ricotta mixture and place in a greased 9×13 pan.
Pour the tomato sauce over the stuffed noodles and heat in the oven for 20 minutes.
Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy!
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