Here's a quick way to have the wonderful flavor of manicotti without all the work of stuffing the tubes. Use a smaller pasta, and cover it with sauce and cheese.
Here is something to make that recipe even faster and less messy. I don't cook any pasta that is going into a crockpot or oven. Make sure you have enough sauce and it will cook itself. I make the same thing in a crockpot, but use rigitoni and cook it on low for at least 4 hours depending on how soft you like your macaroni. Stir the crockpot after two hours to make sure that all the pasta is covered. You can add cooked ground beef or loose sausage to your sauce for more flavor and skip the nutmeg. Make enough extra sauce to add when served if you want more.
Read MoreI followed the recipe alomst exactly, except my package of noodles was a couple ounces larger, but the nutmeg taste completely overwhelmed the whole taste. It took me about 45 minutees to bake as and like another reviewer, I felt something was lacking, perhaps another kind of cheese added would imporve the texture. I really wanted to like this one too...
Read MoreHere is something to make that recipe even faster and less messy. I don't cook any pasta that is going into a crockpot or oven. Make sure you have enough sauce and it will cook itself. I make the same thing in a crockpot, but use rigitoni and cook it on low for at least 4 hours depending on how soft you like your macaroni. Stir the crockpot after two hours to make sure that all the pasta is covered. You can add cooked ground beef or loose sausage to your sauce for more flavor and skip the nutmeg. Make enough extra sauce to add when served if you want more.
This is a great idea if you don't have manicotti on-hand, or don't want to stuff them. I used bow ties instead of ziti because that's what we had in the pantry, but almost any kind of small pasta should work. To spice up the sauce, add 1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste). I used 1 teaspoon salt instead of 1/2 teaspoon. Alternatively, you can add about 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning instead of the basil, marjoram, thyme, and oregano (more or less to taste). Add 1 small can mushrooms to the sauce. Remove the bay leaf before assembling. Top the entire dish with a sprinkle of grated mozzarella cheese about ten minutes before it's ready. Add grated parmesan cheese on top after plated. Serve with caesar salad and garlic bread.
Excellent recipe -- wonderful manicotti flavor. I used penne pasta -- no problem, and skipped the nutmeg. I did bake 45 mins as others suggested. Finally: Two great tips ... Skip Step 2 and just use jar, chunky spaghetti sauce. Makes it much faster. I was a little short on ricotta, so I just added sour cream to make the amount called for. This was a great recipe for when I needed to do a big grocery shop the next day.
I love, love, love this recipe. I've made it several times, and my husband, who thinks that all meals should include meat, raves about it. Even my finicky mother-in-law, who likes to believe she's the only one in the family who can cook, couldn't say anything bad about it.
Used whole wheat pasta and powdered garlic and canned spagetti sauce - half sundried tomato alfredo and half 4 cheese. Also added a little milk, lemon juice and some feta cheese to the cheese. Chopped up some spinach and cooked it with the onions, too. Very yummy, I had seconds, and will make this again for sure.
This is one of my favorite recipes. I use a jar of my father's canned tomatoes, and it's just perfect. This dish tastes even better the next day, so it would be a great dish to make ahead & freeze for later.
I followed the recipe alomst exactly, except my package of noodles was a couple ounces larger, but the nutmeg taste completely overwhelmed the whole taste. It took me about 45 minutees to bake as and like another reviewer, I felt something was lacking, perhaps another kind of cheese added would imporve the texture. I really wanted to like this one too...
Its a good recipe, however I think a 14 ounce can of crushed tomatoes would have been lots. I didn't have ziti on hand so I used rotini and it worked fine. I also skipped the nutmeg and added some extra garlic, basil and pepper to the cheese mixture along with tsome fresh grated parmesan cheese. I also topped the dish with more mozerella and parmesan.
To my astonishment even my extremely fussy eaters enjoyed this recipe. I did find though that I needed to increase the baking time to about 40 - 45 minutes so that the casserole would heat through - may be attributed to the style of baking dish I used.
In Brooklyn and the Bronx they called this 'baked ziti'. In Long Island my mother called it 'lazy lasagna'. It is easy to improvise, and extra black pepper and parsley/oregano in the ricotta mix is good. I also agree with the suggestion that using a little extra sauce eliminates the need to cook the pasta before hand... it bakes to a perfect al dente. Mangia!
This is a good basic recipe. I used jarred sauce as well, works great and saves time. I too go heavy on garlic as our family loves it. The first time I made this I noticed the cheese was too thick to spread so I mixed in enough half and half to make it more spreadable. Makes it soooo yummy too!! I also use 1 1/2 the mozz that is called for, we like our Italian foods cheesy : ). I do use the nutmeg and the pepper though only about 3/4 what is called for. We like the nutmeg flavor in the alfredo sauces so this gives us a "best of both worlds" flavor. This has routinely become a favorite in our house with the changes I've noted. I think I'm going to try adding the spinach and other veggies next time and see how it goes!
Add some fresh garted parmesean cheese to the ricotta and motz. cheese combo...Can also add some thawed, well drained spinach to that mix...Added some fresh mushrooms and only added 1/2 tsp nutmeg...Can be tweaked so many ways, but this is a very good dish.
This recipe is wonderful. My family loves it but I have to admit that I did dummy it up. Instead of making my own sauce I used my favorite store bought sauce. I have tried to stuff the Manicotti---Pain-- but this is easy and fast. Add a salad and garlic bread and dinner is ready.
YUM! I doctored up the sauce to make it a bit more flavorful... added crushed red pepper flakes, a bit of white sugar, extra garlic, and parsley. Also added garlic and grated parmesan to the egg/cheese mixture. Rich and delicious. Thanks! :)
This recipe was so easy to make, and I had all the ingredients on hand! I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and an extra clove of garlic. I thought a whole teaspoon of nutmeg was a bit much so I only used about half that. It turned out great. Highly recommend this recipe.
This will be a regular at my house. I made a few changes but I appreciate the basic idea of this recipe. I added ground turkey, which I browned with the garlic & onion. I also added extra seasonings to the tomato sauce: 1/2 tsp each Italian seasoning & fennel. To the cheese mixture I added 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley. I topped the whole thing off with more mozzarella. I ended up using 12 oz of noodles, which I won't do next time - it was a little on the dry side. Also, I will cut the nutmeg in half.
I've made this several times now and always enjoy it. So much easier than stuffing manicotti shells. This time I used a jar of Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Italian sauce- and sprinkled about 1/2 cup of mozzarella on top before popping in the oven. I always use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, but drain it well in a colander.
I have to give this 3 stars. It's a great recipe, but the nutmeg ruins it. And why layer it? Just mix it up, cover it with cheese and bake :-)
Not my absolute favorite and would still rather have manicotti anyday... but it was defnitely simple and delicious!
The first response I heard from both my son and my husband was "What's in this?". "It's the nutbeg in the cheese layer" was my answer. The nutmeg is overpowering to say the least! The tomato/basil sauce was OK. Next time I make this I will probably use a good bottled sauce, skip the nutmeg and add a bit of garlic and grated Parmesan cheese to the cheese/egg mixute and maybe a mushrooms and spnach layer. This is a good idea for an easy-to-fix meal, but it needs tweaked and definitely skip the nutmeg!!
This was good. My family liked it. My youngest boy is not a fan of cheese, so it was nice for him to avoid the cheese since it wasn't mixed in with the pasta, but on top. The nutmeg, while good, was slightly overwhelming. I think I'd add less of it next time. And there will be a next time!
I made this just as, and almost everyone, but the two-year-old grandson, really liked it and came back for seconds. I will make this recipe again and try it with some type of meat, as suggested, sometime. Thanks for a really good and easy recipe.
I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil to saute the veggies. I didn't have a can of crushed tomatoes, so I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and mashed them with a potato masher in the pot. I used a tsp of italian seasoning and a dash of pepper in the sauce in addition to the basil and salt. I also added a bit of sugar to cut the acidity of the sauce. Like others, I was wary of a tsp of nutmeg and used only a half teaspoon in the filling. It took about 40 minutes to bake. Having said all that, the end product was YUMMY!!!! I will definitely make again!
This was pretty good. I added sausage to the sauce, it tasted as though it was missing something though??
Our family didn't love this recipe, we felt like it was rather bland. My 5 year old, however, did eat it, and asked for more. My suggestion would be to add a pound of ground beef (which I did), and a little italian seasoning to the tomato mixture. If I fix this again, I will spice it up.
This was really good. I don't have much to play with in my pantry so I love that all these ingredients are a staple in my pantry. I didn't add the nutmeg, personal preference, I added garlic and some herbs to the sauce and a little garlic to the cheese mixture. And I cooked it with another type of pasta because I didn't have ziti and it works fine.
i love this recipe! i cook it for valentine's day, my birthday, and my anniversary - all special occasions. i substitute whey-less cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese. this is a great vegetarian recipe.
Two of my three kids really loved this recipe! I think overall this is a really good recipe. If you like manacotti...this is for you!
I made this last night as per the recipe with the only change being I added 1# hamburger meat and used small, short tube macaroni which I did cook beforehand, and 20 minutes was enough time for the casserole to heat through. I agree with CharityBoo it was rather bland. My family hardly made a dent in it. If I make it again, I'll try ZChef's suggestions to spice up the sauce which was just enough. Can't understand why some say it makes too much sauce unless they didn't measure the noodles by weight but by a measuring cup. It does make a difference!
Used this as a base recipe and threw in a lot more veggies: two zucchini, diced tomatoes, and some fresh spinach. My kid ate it without picking out the vegetables, so I consider that a win!
a little too much sauce. should half recipie. Can be made with shells (medium) if zitti is not available.
This was great! I made a few changes by using spiral noodles, low-fat cottage cheese and Italian flavored diced tomatoes. It was a huge hit!
It was great! The children really liked it. I'm going to make it again. (I agree with the others...less sauce and more time to cook)
I cooked the pasta (penne) al dente and added Italian seasoning to the sauce as recommended by another reviewer. I also added chopped zuchini to the sauce. Additionally, I cooked a package (about 1.25#) sweet Italian turkey sausage, in the casings and then sliced it on the diagonal and added it as a layer after the cheese layer (omitted the nutmeg). My 15 month old and I really enjoyed it. My husband couldn't get past the name and how it is NOT like manicotti. I should have told him it was a pasta bake and left it as that.
Used 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Flavoring of nutmeg was questionable. Might try without next time. Didn't have enough ricotta cheese. Made up difference with sour cream and cottage cheese.
This is good, and very simple. I found the sauce a bit strong, and the nutmeg should be cut to 1/2 tsp. Even so, it was a winner with both my kids and my mother!
This was a great classic dish, but I will skip the nutmeg next time. I added 1# ground sirloin to the recipe and it worked out well. I just cooked the beef with the onion and garlic. The nutmeg added an odd flavor that, to me, seemed out of place in this pasta dish. I'm no expert though...
I substituted cottage cheese for ricotta, and added some garlic to the cheese mixture. I also used jarred tomato basil pasta sauce and added fresh spinach. YUM! A big hit, a definite keeper!
We loved it! I have 2 questions: why cook the pasta? not necessary just add about 15 minutes to the baking time and why nutmeg? I left it out. So, I'm giving it 5 stars even though I changed it a bit by adding crumbled turkey Italian sausage and chopped spinach. This reminded me of lasagne but easier to eat.
I used cottage cheese because that is what I had on hand, and I took other's suggestions and used canned sauce for ease of making it. Also ommitted the nutmeg (not a fan of it) and we are garlic fans, so in went the garlic. LOVED IT! Thanks!
We love this recipie! We fixed the amount of sauce by adding about a pound of ground beef. You could also try turkey or sausage!
This was a good recipe. I should have skipped the nutmeg, which I didn't read the other reviews until after I made it. I would have been much better without the nutmeg.
I followed others' suggestions that it neede about 45 minutes to cook. Bad idea, it was extremely dry and the sauce tasted overdone (maybe 20 minutes was too long to simmer the tomatoes). If I were to make it again I would add another can of tomatoes.
My family & I really liked this recipe. Not only does it taste good, it's so much easier than stuffing manicotti.
Very bland.
I made this according to the recipe, but ended up using 12 oz pasta when I saw how much of the cheese mixture there was. At the last minute, I also decided to stir the pasta and cheese mixture together, with the sauce layered in the middle and on top and with extra mozzarella on top. We all liked this pretty well, but the nutmeg was quite strong and obtrusive. If I make this again, I would cut the amount of nutmeg in half so it would just add a little bit of pleasant nutmeg flavor. Update: I bumped my rating up another star to 4 stars because the nutmeg flavor balanced out after a day in the refrigerator and the leftovers were actually really good! I'd still cut back on the nutmeg next time to 3/4 tsp, though. I'd also like to note that the sauce recipe is quite good for something so quick. Usually I only like spaghetti sauces that have simmered for a few hours. I doubled the sauce part of the recipe (and added extra basil) and froze half of it for quick dinners of spaghetti later. It didn't take any more work, so why not?
I made it exactly as the recipe states, and it was a little hard to spread the cheese mixture on the noodles, but it was worth it, The nutmeg added a very different taste than most of my pasta dishes and my best friend who is the pickiest eater went back for seconds!
This got a thumbs up from 2 members of the family and a thumbs sideways from the other two. I thought the sauce was a little bitter tasting, but I liked how easy it was to make. I will definitely try it again, tweaking the sauce to my taste buds.
I absolutely love this recipe!!! I made it for my mother's bday and for the church picnic. I did add sautéed mushrooms, zuchini, yellow squash and Brussels sprouts to the sauce. I also added 2 tbsp of cream cheese to the cheese mixture and topped it off with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese before putting into the oven. I am a foodie by nature and a vegetarian. Well needless to say it flew off the table and my family is always asking me to make it again. Thanks for the base to this recipe.:)
Fast and easy- Thanks this one is a keeper (I did throw a pinch of red pepper flakes and a dash of parsley/italian seasoning in with the cheese rather than use jarred. A dash of sugar cut down on the acidity of the tomatoes (sorry Tuttorosa! sometimes they are acidic crushed tomatoes!)
I've made this more than a dozen times with alterations: Use 24 oz. jar pasta sauce. Reduce nutmeg to 1/4 tsp., reduce pepper to 1/2 tsp. Add 2 Tbl. grated parmesan cheese to ricotta/mozzarella mixture, sometimes add 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning to cheese mixture and occasionally use 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cottage cheese; then sprinkle 2 Tbl. Parmesan on top of casserole before baking. Great for make ahead and refrigerate meals.
This was exactly as promised: all the flavor of manicotti, but not as much work. I did think the nutmeg flavor was fairly strong as written, but since we like nutmeg that wasn't a problem. If you don't want that flavor to be as prominent, I would cut the amount down. Everyone at my house liked it, and I would definitely make it again.
Easy and quick- Wonderful taste!!! I used a large Ragu instead of making the sauce as listed
We did not like the nutmeg! It seemed to burn our mounths and my wife and I did not even make the kids eat it.
