5 Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

I’m going to go out on a limb and throw out there that this 5 cheese stuffed manicotti isn’t exactly “authentic Italian”. But for what it lacks in authenticity it makes up for in deliciousness.

Maybe it has something to do with Mario, but I’m feeling all Italian lately. Pasta has been on the menu a lot the past few weeks and I kind of don’t want to stop eating it. This could get ugly.

So, before I go all carb-a-holic on you, here are my cuties playing at the beach on the 4^th. I meant to share some of these on my last post and probably got distracted by pasta. Whoops.

See, we’re active! Carbs are good for active people. J

I sure like this girl.

We had an awesome Fourth playing on the beach, eating good food, watching fireworks, and getting puked on by my other cutie. Well, the walk home after fireworks covered in my toddlers un-mentionables might not have been a highlight, but I’ll take what I can get.

Okay, pasta time! I’m going to go out on a limb and throw out there that this manicotti isn’t exactly “authentic Italian”. But for what it lacks in authenticity it makes up for in deliciousness. I’m a cheese girl {see one of my many aspirations here} so anything that can pack a five-cheese-punch is right up my alley, especially when it’s stuffed inside of pasta. The glory of this dish is that it comes together really quickly and tastes like you’ve been cooking all day! A total win in my book.

You’ll start by cooking your tomato sauce which consists of just 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes, olive oil, salt, basil and a touch of sugar. Bring those ingredients to a boil and let simmer until you’re ready to use it. Next up is cooking your pasta: cook the manicotti tubes (or jumbo shells work well too) by following the package instructions for al dente -not all the way soft and cooked, or in Italian “to the tooth”, draining them and lying to dry on some paper towels. Meanwhile, the cheeses are simply mixed together until combined and then scooped into a Ziploc bag to make filling the shells easy – a cake decorating bag without a tip on it does the trick too. Push all of the cheese mixture to one corner of the bag, snip off the end and you’re ready to fill your shells.

Prepare your baking dish by spreading about a cup of the tomato sauce over the bottom and begin to fill the pasta tubes by squeezing a steady stream of cheese into each one until they expand a bit.

Lay the filled pasta side-by-side on top of the sauce until all the cheese is used, top with the remaining sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake until bubbly, removing foil for the last 10 minutes to let cheese brown on top.

Can you resist? I really wish I still had some of these left-overs in my fridge right now because I’d be all up in its business. Watch out my pasta-lovin’ peeps, this stuff is whack!

Holla!

{sorry, sometimes it’s hard to stop}

5 Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

Serves 4 servings     adjust servings

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Ingredients

• 12-16 manicotti pasta tubes, or jumbo shell pasta
• 32 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 C mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1 C cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 C parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 C additional parmesan cheese for top
• Sauce
• 2 cans (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (more to taste)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp dried basil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Sauce
3. Combine tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in dried basil. Set aside.
4. Cook pasta tubes or shells according to the package directions for “al dente” or just slightly under cooked. Drain from pasta water and lay on paper towels to slightly dry.
5. Cheese Mixture
6. Combine cheeses, egg, salt, and garlic until well mixed and spoon into a large ziploc bag. Squeeze mixture into one corner of the bag and snip off the end.
7. Spoon about a cup of sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Working one at a time, squeeze a steady stream of cheese into each pasta tube until the sides firm up. Place each filled shell into the baking dish and spoon remaining tomato sauce over the filled pasta once all the cheese mixture is used. Sprinkle remaining ½ C of parmesan cheese over the filled pasta and cover with foil.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly, removing foil for last 10 minutes of cooking to help brown the cheese.

by Heather Cheney

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