I've never made manicotti before and really it looked pretty great when I was done. We didn't actually eat it yet because I really wanted two of them in the freezer but overall it was fairly easy to make and fairly inexpensive once I got over the cost of the noodles themselves. $3.50 when I am used to paying a dollar or less for normal noodles, whew! But I figure if you split the cost of the noodles between the two meals they make then it costs quite a bit less. Also since I've never worked with the manicotti noodles before I thought I could just spoon the mix in and it wouldn't be very messy but I was wrong. Some of the openings were barely over a centimeter so I had to really stuff the stuff in there with my fingers and it took a little longer than I planned but still pretty easy. This is again from that book I rented on my kindle, Fix. Freeze. Feast. I cut the recipe in half since I only wanted to make two meals instead of four.
Manicotti
Makes 4 Entrees, 4 Servings Each
1 (48oz) container cottage cheese (6 cups)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (12 oz)
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 (8oz) boxes of manicotti noodles (12-14 shells in box) uncooked
12 cups red sauce
Four 8in square baking dishes
Plastic Wrap & Aluminum foil
1. Mix cottage cheese, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper in a large bowl. With your fingers or a spoon, stuff filling into manicotti shells.
2. Spread 1/2 cup red sauce in the bottom of each baking dish. Divide remaining red sauce evenly over the four dishes of manicotti. Wrap each dish entirely in plastic wrap.
3. Top with foil, label and freeze.
To Cook One Entree
1. Thaw in fridge or straight into oven.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Remove foil and plastic wrap from baking dish and replace foil. Bake 45 minutes if thawed, 1 hour if frozen. Remove foil and bake until noodles are tender.
Rewriting this recipe makes me want to make it again for a few moms I know who are due soon, and maybe one for our actual family to eat sooner than later.
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| Trying to find the best arrangement for noodle to cheese to sauce ratio. |
Manicotti
Makes 4 Entrees, 4 Servings Each
1 (48oz) container cottage cheese (6 cups)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (12 oz)
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 (8oz) boxes of manicotti noodles (12-14 shells in box) uncooked
12 cups red sauce
Four 8in square baking dishes
Plastic Wrap & Aluminum foil
1. Mix cottage cheese, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper in a large bowl. With your fingers or a spoon, stuff filling into manicotti shells.
2. Spread 1/2 cup red sauce in the bottom of each baking dish. Divide remaining red sauce evenly over the four dishes of manicotti. Wrap each dish entirely in plastic wrap.
3. Top with foil, label and freeze.
To Cook One Entree
1. Thaw in fridge or straight into oven.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Remove foil and plastic wrap from baking dish and replace foil. Bake 45 minutes if thawed, 1 hour if frozen. Remove foil and bake until noodles are tender.
Rewriting this recipe makes me want to make it again for a few moms I know who are due soon, and maybe one for our actual family to eat sooner than later.
I found the noodles on sale at Safeway, $2 a box now that's a little better.
ReplyDeleteYou can fill a baggie and snip the corner to make a piping bag to fill the shells.
ReplyDeleteOr parchment paper.
looks yummy!
What a great idea! I will have to try that next time.
ReplyDelete