Best Cheese Stuffed Manicotti Uncooked Shells Recipes

MANICOTTI (THREE CHEESE, NO-BOIL PASTA RECIPE)

Steps:

• Place the steamed escarole, endive or spinach into a large bowl, then add the ricotta.
• Add the eggs, grated Parmesan or Pecorino, salt, and pepper and mix well.
• Next, toss in the shredded mozzarella. Mix well.
• You'll already have the tomato sauce from my linked recipe, but here's the trick to not boiling the pasta, adding water to the sauce. I say to use boiling water because I don't want you using hot water from the tap; it needs to be very hot. Put half of the sauce in a bowl (if it's about 1 cup of sauce, add just under 1 cup of very hot/almost boiling water. You can make this watery sauce as you need it so you don't end up watering down too much of the sauce.
• Spread a generous amount of the watery sauce in the bottom of the pan, then start filling the tubes with the filling. As I said above, you can choose to use a piping bag without a tip, but it's really easy to use a small spoon, too. Use both ends to fill the manicotti shells as it's quicker than trying to push the filling all the way to the opposite end.
• Once full, place in the pan. Be sure to place them generously spaced apart as they will grow and spread.
• Once all the manicotti are filled (you may need another small tray if all of the manicotti don't fit (don't attempt to squeeze them in). I put 4 in a separate little dish. Make sure to cover all of the manicotti.
• Add enough watery sauce so that it comes about halfway up the pasta shells. We need this much liquid since the pasta hasn't been boiled (and absorbed the water when cooking). Let the shells rest for about half an hour before baking.
• Cover and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until the pasta is ready. You can remove the cover for the last 5 minutes if you like.
• Before serving, add some heated pasta sauce (the original batch, not watered down) to the manicotti. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese and add a sprig of parsley for color, and enjoy!

MAKE-AHEAD MANICOTTI

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and eggs until blended. Stir in spinach, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper.
• Transfer mixture to a gallon sized sealable plastic storage bag. Use scissors to cut off the tip from one of the bottom corners of the bag.
• Spread about 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce over the bottom of a baking dish, spreading it out evenly. Use the makeshift pastry bag to squeeze the spinach and cheese mixture into the uncooked manicotti shells. Arrange the stuffed shells on top of the marinara sauce in a single layer. Pour remaining sauce over the top, being sure that all of the pasta is covered well. Cover the dish with foil and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake covered for 40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, and bake uncovered for another 7 to 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is beginning to get light golden brown.

CHEESE STUFFED MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir beef, onion, and roasted garlic in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer until pan juices evaporate, about 10 minutes more. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and garlic salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook manicotti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.
• Mix mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Spoon a generous amount of the cheese mixture into each manicotti shell.
• Pour enough tomato-beef sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange stuffed manicotti over sauce; pour remaining sauce over pasta. Cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over manicotti and return to the oven. Bake until cheese filling is melted, 10 to 15 minutes more.

NO BOIL MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Combine Ricotta, 4 oz Mozzarella, Parmesan, 1 tsp sugar, egg, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Stuff uncooked manicotti generously with cheese mixture, from both ends. (Tip: I put mixture in a plastic bag and cut off a small corner to squeeze the mixture in the shells easily).
• Arrange manicotti in a single layer in a slightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Combine diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, onion flakes, basil, rosemary, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper in a small or medium sauce pan and bring to just a boil.
• Pour sauce over manicotti covering completely.
• Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, crimping edges to seal tightly.
• Bake for 40 minutes at 400°F.
• Remove foil, sprinkle generously with remaining mozzarella.
• Bake uncovered for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

CHEESE-STUFFED MANICOTTI (UNCOOKED NOODLES)

Steps:

• In medium bowl combine ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper, and any optional ingredients.
• Stuff shells by repeatedly twisting uncooked noodles against the bottom of the bowl.
• Place stuffed manicotti in 9x13 inch pan. (Leave one shell empty from box in order to accommodate all manicotti into pan).
• In small bowl empty jar of Prego.
• Fill empty Prego jar with about 1 cup of water and shake to grab remaining sauce from jar and pour into bowl.
• Stir sauce then pour over manicotti noodles.
• Cover with foil and freeze.
• Heat oven to 375. Cook for 45 minutes covered and 45 minutes uncovered, or until the sauce is bubbling on the sides.

CHEESE STUFFED MANICOTTI (UNCOOKED SHELLS)

Steps:

• Sauce: Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.
• Saute onion and garlic in oil until onion is transparent.
• Add cut up tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, and basil.
• Simmer about 20 minutes.
• Filling: Mix ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, parsley, sugar, and egg together.
• Assemble: Fill uncooked manicotti shells with cheese mixture.
• Place in a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish; cover completely with sauce.
• Cover and bake at 400°F for about 1 1/4 hours or until pasta is tender.
• Uncover and sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and bake 15 minutes longer.
• Let sit about 15 minutes before serving.

SPINACH CHEESE MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion and egg. Season with parsley, pepper and garlic powder. Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water.
• Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until noodles are soft.

EASY, STUFFED MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Spread 2 tblsps of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
• Combine first 8 ingredients together in a bowl.
• Take shells and stuff with the meat mixture.(I find it easier to use pastry bags filled with the meat mixture to stuff the shells or you can cut the end of a sandwich baggie and stuff them that way. Less messy and much faster.).
• Place shells in pan and pour remaining sauce of shells.
• Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, remove from the oven and top with mozzeralla cheese. Return to oven and bake and additional 15 minutes.
• Remove and enjoy.
• Goes wonderfully with a tossed salad and garlic bread.

CHEESE MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mix the first 6 ingredients; stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. In another bowl, mix marinara sauce and water; spread 3/4 cup sauce onto bottom of a 13x9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Fill uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture; arrange over sauce. Top with remaining sauce., Bake, covered, 50 minutes or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. If desired, top with additional parsley.

CHEESE STUFFED MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F
• Bring 5 quarts of water to a rapid boil. For best results, add 1 tablespoons of salt.
• Add pasta and stir; return to rapid boil.
• Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 6 minutes.
• Remove noodles from boiling water and place them in a bowl of cold water. Tubes will be firm; making them easy to fill but will finish cooking and become soft and tender while cooking in the oven.
• In a large bowl stir together ricotta cheese, 1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley and seasonings.
• Pour enough spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 13x9-inch pan to just cover the bottom of the pan.
• Spoon about 1/3 cup cheese mixture into each pasta tube; place in the pre-sauced pan.
• Pour the remainder of sauce over filled pasta; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil; bake 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
• Remove from the oven and serve.

BEEF STUFFED MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Cook manicotti according to package directions; drain. In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, oregano and thyme; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cheese; stir until melted., Stuff half meat mixture into manicotti shells; arrange in a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Spoon remaining meat mixture over shells. , Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.