3 Cheese Manicotti from Julie



8 Uncooked Manicotti shells (or as many as you can fit in your baking dish, adjust quantities below as necessary. Glass/ceramic baking dishes work best.)



Cheese Filling:

2 Tbsp. Minced onion
½ teaspoon Dried oregano -- crushed
2 Eggs (or 4 eggs whites or egg substitute) -- beaten
1 ½ cups Shredded mozzarella cheese
1 ½ cups Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Snipped fresh parsley
1 dash Pepper

(Nothing fancy about stuffing the shells, but this is when filling them uncooked makes this recipe much easier.)



Sauce:

2 jars of Classico Marinara/Tomato & Basil

5 fresh mushrooms, sliced

(I usually short-cut the marinara sauce by buying Classico, but if you are feeling ambitious you can use your homemade version instead.)



Topping:

½ cup of Shredded mozzarella cheese

Pour half the tomato mixture into a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Arrange stuffed manicotti in the baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over shells. If desired, cover and chill manicotti for up to 24 hours.

Bake the stuffed manicotti, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining topping of cheese for 5-10 minutes, or until noodles feel cooked when poked with a fork. Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes to cool and set.

FYI – instead of manicotti shells, you can also stuff the jumbo sea shells and reduce the baking time by 5-10 minutes. In a pinch, I’ve kicked the oven up to 400 degrees and watched closely to reduce baking time.