Manicotti

Sometimes I feel like Italian food is all the same: noodle of some type, tomato base sauce with meat, and cheese. Lots of cheese. The cheese makes it yummy every time, though. (And the type of cheese can apparently have a big difference in how it tastes...go figure!) Manicotti is one of those dishes that follows all the rules. But it is soooo yummy!

16oz ricotta cheese
2 C. (8oz) mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 C. cottage cheese
2 TBS. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
1 package manicotti shells, uncooked
1lb. ground beef
1 jar (26oz) pasta sauce
1/2 C. water

Mix all the cheeses, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper. Fill the shells with the cheese mix. This part can be kind of hard, I've heard you can use a big Ziploc bag or an icing bag full of the cheese mixture to just squeeze the cheese into the shells. I just use a spoon and a lot of patience. Place in 9x13 pan. Brown the ground beef, add pasta sauce. I put the water into the empty sauce jar and swish it around before adding it, because it gets more of the sauce out of the jar...but you can add your water directly to the meat and sauce in the skillet if you want. Stir well, then pour over the manicotti shells. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour.

A lot of the recipes that I like to use call for 1lb of ground beef. Lately, I have been trying to cut back on the amount of meat that we eat in our home. If you want to cut back on the meat, use only 1/2lb. of ground beef. If you feel like you need to add more substance after removing half the meat, then you can saute some onions, peppers, or squash to add to the sauce, depending on the recipe that you are making (and what you think would taste best). I imagine manicotti would be delicious if you added chopped and sauteed zucchini!