Manicotti With Sausage
Stuffed with a hearty Italian sausage and ricotta filling and baked under a layer of bubbly marinara and melted cheese, simply delicious! This is the kind of cozy dinner your family will ask for again and again.
Ingredients
For The Noodles
- 24 ounces marinara pasta sauce or your favorite pasta sauce or your favorite pasta sauce - divided
- 12 pieces manicotti shells packages come with 12-14 shells, see notes
For The Filling
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 2 cups ricotta cheese whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded, divided
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach chopped
- 1 large egg cracked and beaten lightly with a fork
- 1 teaspoon oregano dried
- 2 teaspoons basil
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 large lemon zest only, optional
Instructions
Prepping Before You Start
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Spray a rimmed sheet pan and a 9x13 casserole dish lightly with cooking spray, then spread about a cup of pasta sauce evenly across the bottom of the casserole dish. Set the remaining pasta sauce to the side. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.24 ounces marinara pasta sauce or your favorite pasta sauce
Cooking The Noodles
- Add the manicotti pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, closer to 6-7 minutes.12 pieces manicotti shells
- Drain the pasta and use tongs to lay the noodles in rows on the oiled sheet pan without touching. Set aside.
Browning The Sausage
- While the noodles are boiling, heat a large skillet on medium high heat sprayed lightly with spray cooking oil. Add the Italian sausage to the pan, breaking it into larger chunks and letting it cook for about two minutes. Continue breaking the sausage up into pieces as it cooks until you have small crumble sized pieces no bigger than about ¼ inch so it is easier to pipe into the manicotti noodles. Cook all the way through until brown, stirring as needed, about 8-10 minutes total.1 pound Italian sausage
- Remove from heat, drain any excess oil with a paper towel, and set aside.
Making The Filling
- In a large mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, spinach, egg, oregano, basil, minced garlic, salt, pepper and lemon zest (if using.) Mix the filling until smooth, then fold in the sausage crumbles and mix until combined. Set the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to the side.2 cups ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon oregano, 2 teaspoons basil, ½ teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 large lemon
- Fill a gallon size zip top freezer bag with the ricotta and sausage mixture. Push any extra air out of the bag, then make sure it is zipped closed tight. Carefully snip the end off the corner of the bag, keeping in mind you can also cut more if you need to but you can’t make it smaller.
Filling The Manicotti Noodles
- Insert the tip of the bag into one end of the noodle and gently squeeze to fill half the shell. Flip the noodle around and fill the second half from the other end. You can use a spoon or your finger to gently poke in any filling that escapes.
- Repeat with the remaining noodles, arranging them in rows over the sauce. Top with the remaining marinara and mozzarella.
Baking The Manicotti
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil sprayed lightly with spray cooking oil. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Manicotti noodles usually come with 14 noodles, expecting you might split 1-2 accidentally. This recipe makes 12 manicotti. Cook the noodles at least 2 minutes less than the package says, about 6-7 minutes. They'll finish cooking as they bake. Some packages say to cook manicotti for 9-10 minutes, don't do it. You'll end up with split noodles before you even start filling them.
If you have a noodle that accidentally split all the way down only one side the noodle can be still used and filled. Lay the noodle down on the pan all the way open. Gently pipe the filling onto one side of the noodle. Then fold the rest of the noodle over top of the filling. Place the noodle so that the broken seam is on the bottom of the pan. No one will ever know it split!
When filling the noodles, the key is to think of this less like a frosting bag and more like... well, the opposite of a bagpipe. Gentle, slow pressure is your best friend here.
When filling the manicotti noodles, you can use the hand holding the manicotti noodle to carefully keep the noodle from expanding too far and splitting the noodle shell.
I usually just give any broken noodles that might be in multiple pieces to my kid and my husband as a pre-dinner snack.
Not sure if it's fully filled? Gently poke the center! If it feels soft, add a little more filling and push it in.
Most of the members of my family will eat 2-3 manicotti per person. I usually serve with salad and garlic bread on the side.
Nutrition
Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 810mg | Potassium: 367mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 922IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 201mg | Iron: 2mg