Lauren helped me out and took Dominic to a music therapy session, so I could focus on making dinner. I stuffed about half of the manicotti shells before I realized I didn't have enough mixture to put in the shells! Good grief. I had to "un-stuff" them, add more ricotta cheese and "re-stuff." It was what you would call a learning "curve" to make these. After dinner, I asked Lauren which she liked better, lasagna or manicotti. She just recently graduated from college and hasn't had my home cooking for a while. She told me she liked the manicotti better. I knew she learned a lot in those four years!!
Ingredients
8-ounce package manicotti noodles, uncooked
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
24-ounce jar tomato and basil pasta sauce
1 large egg, beaten
15-ounce container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese (1 cup reserved)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large pot, cook the manicotti according to the manufacturer's directions. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside. In a medium saucepan, brown the ground chuck until it is no longer pink and then add the pasta sauce. Stir to combine thoroughly with a large spoon and set aside. In a medium bowl, put the egg, ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, salt, basil and black pepper. Stir with a large spoon. Pour half of the meat and sauce mixture evenly in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Stuff each manicotti noodle with a heaping teaspoon of the cheese mixture. Lay on top of the meat and sauce mixture. Pour the remaining half of the meat and sauce mixture on top of the stuffed manicotti and then sprinkle the other cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes until it is bubbly.
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