Manicotti

It was a beautiful sunny day but quite chilly and a strong wind started late afternoon.  As we had duck for dinner last night, I decided to make something plainer and heartier for dinner tonight.  Not your typical Easter fare but it was delicious.

Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients

manicotti

2 lbs of ground meat

can of spaghetti sauce

breadcrumbs

mozzarella cheese

onions

garlic

green pepper

mushrooms

Start by browning your ground meat.  I used a pound of beef and a pound of pork but you can use any ground meat you like.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I also added dried herbs - 1 Tbsp parsley, 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp of basil. You can definitely use fresh herbs if you have them on hand.

Once the meat is browned, strain and move to a large bowl.  Drain all but 1 tsp of fat from the pan.  Finely dice - 1/2 cup of onion, 1/2 cup of green pepper, 1 cup of mushrooms and 3 small cloves of grated garlic.  Add these to the pan and cook enough to soften.  Add to the bowl along with 1 cup of breadcrumbs that you have browned for 10 minutes in the oven.

Next stir in 1 1/2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese.

Boil water for the noodles.  You are going to cook them until they start to soften (5 to 7 minutes) but they need to still be quite firm to stuff.  If you overcook them or overstuff them, they will fall apart (see below).

Stuff the noodles with your meat mixture using a teaspoon or your very clean hands.  Use non-stick vegetable oil on the pan, spoon some spaghetti sauce over the bottom and lay the noodles in rows.  Spoon more sauce over the top.

Then cover with grated cheese and bake 30 to 45 minutes.

It's great served with a caesar salad and it freezes well. This pan would serve 6 so I have easy freezer meals for nights I don't feel like cooking. Enjoy!

Julie