More pasta bakes
Tuck Into This Dish Of Baked Manicotti
We think that there can never be enough pasta dishes in our family recipe box, and this easy manicotti recipe is a real winner in our kitchens. Manicotti noodles were invented to be stuffed with a rich cheesy filling and baked in sauce. To balance out all that cheese, we suggest making a side Italian Salad, Broccolini, or Green Beans Almondine. If you love a good pasta bake, check out our Baked Rigatoni, stuffed shells or any of our Pasta Recipes. For another classic Italian dish, check out our Chicken Cacciatore.
Ingredients For Homemade Manicotti
Noodles – aka manicotti, aka “little sleeves”
Cheese – ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan
Seasoning – classic Italian seasoning plus chopped fresh parsley
Sauce – a jar of marinara
Eggs – we use two to bind the cheese filling and add texture while it bakes
More cheese – fresh mozzarella gets dotted across the top of the manicotti before you bake it
How To Make Manicotti
Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
Cook the manicotti according to the package directions, being careful not to overcook as this will result in a noodle that will easily break.
Make the manicotti filling in a medium bowl–mix cheese, eggs, parsley, garlic clove, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
Prepare the filling. Fill your pastry bag or zip-top bag with the cheese filling.
Stuff the shells! See our tips to make this as easy as possible.
Spread half the marinara sauce in a casserole dish, arranging the manicotti shells in an even layer.
Cover with the remaining marinara sauce and dot with fresh mozzarella.
Bake covered for 20 minutes, and uncovered for another 20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly!
How to Store Leftovers + Tips
Pastry bag kitchen hack: Use a zip-top plastic bag and cut the tip off of one corner. Voilà! Instant pastry bag. Fill your pastry bag (or zip-top bag) with the cheese filling and get ready to fill the pasta!
How do you fill manicotti shells? We find that partially filling the manicotti from one side, and then finishing piping from the other side, to be the easiest way to avoid breakage.
Leftovers can be stored for 3-4 days. If you’re freezing this recipe, we suggest stopping just before adding the mozzarella and the final bake, wrapping the dish in plastic wrap and then foil, and storing for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, add the mozzarella then you can pop it in the oven and bake until an instant-read thermometer reaches 165°F degrees.
More Pasta Favorites From The Modern Proper
Make Manicotti, Invite Your Friends For Dinner
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