best manicotti recipe

The secret to the best, irresistible manicotti is to make them from scratch with homemade crespelles, which are basically Italian crepes. These are filled with spinach, egg and three cheeses and topped with homemade sauce. Filling and delicious!

Homemade Spinach Manicotti

crespelles

oz part skim ricotta cheese (I use Polly-O)

mozzarella cheese (reserve 1/2 cup Polly-O)

spinach

Parmesan Regianno*

salt

black pepper (to taste)

jarred marinara or homemade marinara sauce

Start by making the crespelles (see recipe link above)

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, 1-1/2 cups of the mozzarella, egg, spinach, parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

Fill each crespelle with 1/4 cup spinach filling and roll.

In a large baking dish, (or two smaller dishes) pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place rolled manicotti seem side down onto baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups more sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake about about 25 minutes, until hot and bubbling, and the cheese is melted.

*Use substitute for vegetarian parmesan.

My FAVORITE dish for the holidays, Homemade Spinach and Cheese Manicotti made with homemade crespelles.

PRINT: https://www.skinnytaste.com/homemade-manicotti/

Homemade Spinach and Cheese Manicotti Recipe

It's easy to learn how to make manicotti.&nbsp; Start with this delicious recipe for Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti!

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

ricotta cheese

mozzarella cheese

cream cheese

Parmesan cheese

spinach, (thawed & squeezed dry)

eggs

black pepper

box (12 to 14 shells) manicotti noodles

marinara sauce ((jarred

Parmesan cheese, (for topping)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix the cheeses, spinach, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir together until well blended.

Place about 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce in a 9x13-inch pan. Spread it around to cover the bottom.

Place the mixed filling into a plastic bag. You can use either a frosting piping bag or a gallon zip bag. Snip the corner, gather the top and squeeze the filling into the corner. Hold an uncooked manicotti shell in your hand and squeeze the filling inside the shell. Let it overflow on both sides. Alternately, you can stuff the uncooked noodles with a small spoon or fork.  Place the filled shell into the sauce-lined pan. Repeat with remaining manicotti and fill the pan with the stuffed shells, until you run out of shells and filling. You should be able to fill 12 to 14 shells- if you run out of room in your pan, use a separate smaller pan to accommodate the extra.

Cover the pasta completely with marinara sauce, using about 2 1/2 cups of sauce. Sprinkle 1/2 cup Parmesan on top. At this point, you can cover with foil and refrigerate until you're ready to bake, or you can cover with foil and place it in the oven immediately.

Bake, covered with foil, 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

https://embed.mediavine.com/videos/c1stoj5jbewihk4ixiga

Short video and easy recipe showing you how to make Spinach and Cheese Manicotti. This family friendly dinner recipe has been a favorite for over 40 years.

Spinach and Cheese Manicotti

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Top 2 best manicotti recipe recipes from across the web

The most viewed best manicotti recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Homemade Spinach Manicotti

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicott...

The most viewed best manicotti recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine