Spinach And Porcini Stuffed Manicotti Recipes

SPINACH CHEESE MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion and egg. Season with parsley, pepper and garlic powder. Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water.
• Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until noodles are soft.

MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• If using fresh spinach, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat, and season generously with salt. Fill a medium bowl with ice water and season with salt. Boil the spinach until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, (keep the water in the pot boiling), and immediately plunge the spinach into the ice water. Drain and squeeze the excess water from the spinach, and finely chop. Alternatively, if using thawed spinach, simply squeeze, and finely chop. Set aside.
• In the same large pot of boiling water, cook the manicotti shells according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and pat dry.
• Spread 1 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup of the grated cheese and mix until evenly combined. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, the nutmeg and pepper. Spoon the cheese mixture into the manicotti shells and line them up in the baking dish. Cover with the remaining 2 cups sauce. Scatter the remaining 2/3 cup grated cheese on top and dot with the butter.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt and season with pepper to taste. Use right away, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
• Yield: 3 1/2 cups
• Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.

SPINACH MANICOTTI WITH LEMON

Steps:

• Place the ricotta in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the ricotta for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna sheets and stir with a large slotted spoon to ensure that the pasta does not stick as it cooks. Cook until still quite firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large bowl (you'll use the empty pot later). Gently toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to coat. (This is more pasta than you will need, but the extra noodles are backups for any that might break.)
• In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, add the spinach, then sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring, just long enough to wilt, 30 to 45 seconds. Quickly remove the pan from the heat and transfer the spinach to a kitchen towel-lined plate to drain and cool.
• Return the medium pot to medium heat, then add the cream and garlic and bring to a gentle simmer, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the Worcestershire, hot sauce and 1/2 cup pecorino. Spoon enough of the sauce to lightly coat the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set aside.
• In a large bowl, spread the ricotta out on the bottom and up the sides of the bowl (so the seasoning coats most of the cheese). Add the egg and sprinkle with salt. Mix to combine. Add pepper, the lemon zest, lemon juice, tarragon and the remaining 1/2 cup pecorino. Mix to combine. Add the sauteed spinach, reserving some for garnish. Add the allspice and combine thoroughly.
• Arrange the lasagna sheets on a clean, flat surface with the longer sides of the rectangles facing you. Place about 3 tablespoons ricotta on the edge of the sheet closest to you, leaving a little room on either end. Gently roll the pasta up into a tube away from you and place inside the prepared baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling, taking care that the manicotti are snug in the baking dish.
• Cover the manicotti with about three-quarters of the sauce. (Keep the remaining sauce warm.) Place the baking dish on the center rack of the oven and bake until lightly browned and the filling is hot in the center when pierced with the tip of a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Warm the remaining sauce and spoon it over the manicotti. Sprinkle the top with the reserved spinach and freshly grated Pecorino-Romano. Serve warm.

SPINACH & CHEESE STUFFED MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350* F.
• Combine sauce and sausage in the same skillet sausage was cooked, keep warm.
• In a large bowl, mix spinach, cheeses, eggs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir together until well blended.
• Place about 2 cups sauce in a 9X13 inch casserole dish. Spread it around to cover the bottom.
• Now, to fill the manicotti. You can do this however you wish. You can use a pastry bag, or a zip-lock bag with a corner cut, or a spoon. I chose to use an old baby spoon (from when my daughter was a baby, the kind with the rubber temperature controlled end). I had fantastic results doing it that way. I highly recommend doing it that way. You may have to fill half, turn manicotti around and fill from the other end, as I did. Try to get as much filling in as possible, letting it over flow from the ends. Place the filled shell into the sauce-lined dish. Repeat with the remaining manicotti shells, and fill the dish with the stuffed shells, until you either run out of room, or shells or filling. I ran out of room first, I got twelve into my casserole dish. (I did have left over filling, which I froze.) You could also use two separate smaller dishes, and freeze one for another meal.
• Cover pasta with sauce, you don't have to use it all, just make sure all the exposed manicotti are covered in sauce, about 2 ½ cups. Place sliced mozzarella on top of sauce and sprinkle remaining ½ cup shredded cheese mix over the mozzarella. At this point, you can cover with foil and refrigerate until you're ready to bake, or you can cover with foil and place it in the oven immediately.
• Bake, covered with foil, 50 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 10 minutes.
• Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
• Tips:.
• It's perfectly fine if you want to use full fat versions of the cheeses, we just prefer the low fat and fat free versions.
• It's perfectly fine to leave the spinach out and turn this into just a cheese manicotti.

SPINACH CHEESE MANICOTTI

Steps:

• In a small skillet, saute onion in oil for 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Set aside. , In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and pepper; beat until smooth. Stir in onion mixture and spinach. Stuff into the manicotti shells., Pour half of the spaghetti sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce., Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.