4-Cheese Sausage Manicotti
This 4-cheese sausage manicotti with marinara sauce makes a delicious main dish that can be served with a salad and garlic bread.
Ingredients
For the Marinara Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 2 cans (15 ounces for each can) tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- 3 dashes salt
For the Filling:
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped spinach
- 2 green onions chopped, including the green tops
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Italian or curly parsley
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup cooked and crumbled Italian sausage (broken up in small pieces with a spatula when cooking) can substitute with ground beef, ground turkey or ground pork
For the Manicotti Pasta:
- 1 box (12 to 14 count) uncooked (dry) manicotti shells
For the Toppings:
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For the Marinara Sauce:
- Heat a medium size saucepan on low to medium heat. To the pan add olive oil and chopped garlic. Stir for a moment before adding the tomato sauce.
- To the pan add tomato sauce, oregano, basil, pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir together.
- Turn the heat down to the lowest heat possible and cover the pan with a lid. Let simmer for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally.
For the Filling:
- In a medium size bowl add cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, spinach, green onions, parsley, mozzarella cheese, and cooked and crumbled Italian sausage (or your choice of ground meat). Stir together.
For the Manicotti Pasta:
- In a large shallow oven proof casserole dish, or serving size oven proof dishes, add a layer of the warm sauce to the bottom.
- Stuff the manicotti shells with the cheese filling. Then lay each stuffed manicotti in the casserole dish.
For the Toppings:
- Spread the sauce over the top of the manicotti.
- Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees F.) until the shells soften and the filling heats up (45 minutes).
- Serve warm and top with grated Parmesan cheese.