cooked hands

Baked manicotti. I'm not a pasta lover.

However, when it's a component of something that's about 75% cheese, I can bear it.

Manicotti is such a dish. There is so much deliciously creamy ricotta, stringy mozzarella, and salty parmesan that the pasta is a welcome vehicle to deliver it all into my wide open mouth.

Truth be told, I had never had manicotti until my sister-in-law made it for us over the summer. Her version was so flavorful and comforting that it stayed on my mind. When my husband casually mentioned the dish one day, I knew it was time to try to make it myself.

My only challenge with this dish was completely filling the tubes without splitting them down the side. Since I've made this a few times now and tried several different techniques, I can tell you that I've had the best success with a ziplock bag-turned-cheese squirter. A long thin spoon, while effective, is extremely tedious, and I really don't relish using my hands for a job like this. The faux pastry bag got the filling all the way through the tube with little mess.

I've used homemade sauce and store-bought sauce, and both are fine. I've tried adding lemon zest to the filling like in my eggplant involtini, but it was a little too overpowering for this dish. The recipe below is the one we've enjoyed the most, made with homemade sauce, of course.

Manic-otti
(printable recipe)

Serves 3-4
Ingredients:

• 2 cups marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade
• 1/2 box manicotti noodles (7 tubes)
• 1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup), divided use
• 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup), divided use
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or 2 teaspoons dried basil), plus more for garnish

Directions:
Cook manicotti in salted boiling water until al dente. My box called for 9-10 minutes, and I stopped at 7. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 2-quart dish.
In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and herbs; set aside.
Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce onto the bottom of the prepared dish.
Gently stuff each tube with the ricotta mixture until full but not bursting out the ends and place on top of the marinara sauce.
Top evenly with remaining sauce, making certain that the pasta is completely covered.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until bubbling, about 40 minutes, then remove foil.
Sprinkle evenly with remaining cheeses. Bake until cheese is browned and bubbly, about 6-7 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.