Manicotti
Cheesy, creamy spinach-stuffed manicotti topped with marinara—this classic Italian-American dish is comfort food at its finest. Homemade and delicious!
Servings: 6
Equipment
- Pot Medium
- Baking Dish 9 x 13-Inch
Ingredients
For the Marinara Sauce:
- ¼ Cup olive oil
- ½ yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 Cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 Teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ Cup white wine dry or medium-dry
- 1 Can whole tomatoes San Marzano, crushed by hand, 28 Ounces
- salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ Cup basil leaves fresh, finely chopped
For the Manicotti Filling
- 8 Ounces manicotti
- 5 to 6 Ounces spinach fresh
- 15 Ounces ricotta cheese whole milk
- 1 Cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ Cup parmesan grated
- ½ Cup pecorino romano grated
- 2 eggs
- ¼ Cup parsley fresh, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray as needed
To Garnish:
- parmesan cheese freshly grated
- basil freshly chopped
- parsley freshly chopped
Instructions
Make the Marinara Sauce:
- Heat a medium-sized pot over a medium high heat and add olive oil. Sauté the onions with a pinch of salt until soft and translucent but not browned, about 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic and dried oregano and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Turn the heat to high and pour in the white wine, deglazing the pan, 3 or 4 minutes.
- Pour in the San Marzano tomatoes and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss in the finely chopped basil right before it’s done cooking.
- You can leave the sauce in the pot or you can transfer the sauce to a bowl if you need to use it again for boiling the pasta and spinach in the next step.
Cook the Pasta:
- In a medium pot, cook your pasta to al dente, 1 or 2 minutes under the recommended time on the package.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pasta onto a baking sheet greased with cooking spray.
- Spritz the pasta lightly with more cooking spray. Don’t worry if you don’t get the insides of the tubes.
Make the Manicotti Filling:
- Using the same water as your pasta, boil the spinach until just wilted, about 1 minute.
- With a slotted spoon, remove the spinach and transfer to a small bowl. Rinse the spinach with cold water then squeeze out all the water. It’s really important to get as much water out as you possibly can.
- Roughly chop it and transfer the spinach to a medium bowl.
- To the same bowl, add the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino romano, eggs, parsley, and some salt and pepper to taste.
- Combine with a spoon.
- Now put the mixture into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and cut the tip off one of the corners, big enough for the mixture to move through the hole.
Assemble the Manicotti:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Tear a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to cover the dish and grease with cooking spray on one side. Set aside.
- Pour ½ of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, swirling the dish around to evenly coat the bottom.
- Squeeze the cheese and spinach mixture into each manicotti tube. You may need to pipe it into both ends. Lay the filled tubes on top of the sauce in a single layer.
- Top the pasta with the other half of the marinara sauce, either covering the tubes completely or you can just pour it down the middle of the tubes.
- Wrap the baking dish with the greased aluminum foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pasta is fully cooked.
- Remove the foil from the baking dish and bake for a further 5 minutes.
- Let it cool slightly before garnishing with the grated parmesan cheese, finely chopped basil, and parsley on top. Serve hot.
Notes
Drain the spinach well: It's very important the wilted spinach is squeezed dry. Leaving some water clinging to it will make the manicotti filling running and watery and it won't stay in the tubes.
Minimize washing up: You can use the same pan you made the sauce in to cook the pasta and then the spinach if you don't want to more pans dirty.
Filling the tubes: I used a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off but you could use a piping bag or pastry bag. You might need to squeeze in filling from both ends of the tube to get it all the way through.
Let it rest: I recommend you let the dish sit for 10 minutes before garnishing and serving. It's going to be piping hot when it comes out of the oven. Also, letting it rest for a bit helps it firm up for neater servings.
Minimize washing up: You can use the same pan you made the sauce in to cook the pasta and then the spinach if you don't want to more pans dirty.
Filling the tubes: I used a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off but you could use a piping bag or pastry bag. You might need to squeeze in filling from both ends of the tube to get it all the way through.
Let it rest: I recommend you let the dish sit for 10 minutes before garnishing and serving. It's going to be piping hot when it comes out of the oven. Also, letting it rest for a bit helps it firm up for neater servings.
Nutrition
Calories: 506kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 120mg | Sodium: 455mg | Potassium: 386mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3101IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 480mg | Iron: 2mg
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