Manicotti Stuffed Shells

A fun way to branch out from your typical spaghetti. Hubby LOVES spaghetti and could eat it for at least 5 meals a week, so I'm always on the lookout for alternatives that still incorporate similar ingredients, plus manicotti sounded good. A bit of work to stuff the shells, but well pretty worth it. Not necessarily one of my all time favorites, but a nice change from regular spaghetti.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pint part-skim ricotta cheese 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 eggs 1 teaspoon dried parsley

salt to taste ground black pepper to taste 1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce 5 1/2 ounces manicotti pasta

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Cook manicotti in boiling water until done. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3.	In a large bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, and 1/2 cup Parmesan, eggs, parsley, and salt and pepper. Mix well.
4.	Pour 1/2 cup sauce into an 11x17 inch baking dish. Fill each manicotti shell with 3 tablespoons cheese mixture, and arrange over sauce . Pour remaining sauce over top, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
5.	Bake 45 minutes, or until bubbly.

Follow as directed, other than using Jumbo Pasta Shells instead of Manicotti shells - I think they are easier to stuff. I did add some ground Italian sausage to the cheese mixture for half of them, which was a yummy addition. Both varieties were good, but I do love meat. ;) 

I ended up having quite a bit of cheese stuffing leftover, so I combined it with some lasagna noodles and spaghetti sauce, making a tasty lasagna to freeze for later consumption.