Food Blogs
Beef and Cheese Manicotti Recipe
A great one-dish meal in the tradition of the classic red-checkered-tablecloth, family-owned restaurant, this is Italian-American food at its best. I like to make individual portions ahead of time, and freeze them. When I get home really late from work, I just pop one in the microwave and have a full, comforting meal in mere minutes.
Servings |
MetricUS Imperial
|
Ingredients
- pound ½ ground beef 8 ounces
- cup ½finely chopped onion from 1 onion
- 1 container whole milk ricotta cheese 15-ounce
- 1 cups ½shredded mozzarella cheese
- cup ½freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoons ½salt plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 12 pieces of manicotti pasta from one 8-ounce box
- 1 cups ½Marinara Sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter cut into pieces
Ingredients
|
|
Instructions
- Heat a Medium-Size, heavy skillet over a medium flame. Add the ground beef and onion and sauté until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese, the parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in the meat mixture and set aside.
- Brush 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over a large baking sheet. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in batches, add the manicotti and cook until softened but still firm to the bite, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the manicotti from the pot to the prepared baking sheet and let cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon ½ cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture, and arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer in the prepared dish. Spoon the remaining cup of sauce over the manicotti. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella cheese and then the remaining ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese over the manicotti. Dot the top with the butter pieces. (The manicotti can be prepared up to this point 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
- Bake the manicotti uncovered until it is heated through and the sauce bubbles on the bottom of the dish, about 35 minutes. Let the manicotti stand for 5 minutes and serve.