Easy Manicotti Recipe

This classic Manicotti recipe is creamy, perfectly cheesy, and full of Italian flavors. It is a delicious and easy main dish to serve at family dinners and is leftovers-friendly! Manicotti, or “little sleeves” in Italian, is a staple on most Italian restaurant menus. The signature manicotti filling is a mouth-watering cheese mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan that gets stuffed into tube-shaped noodles, smothered in marinara sauce, and baked to perfection in the oven. It is traditionally made vegetarian, but you can add browned Italian sausage to the filling if desired.

RECIPE: https://preppykitchen.com/manicotti/

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– Hey, I’m John Kanell, and today on “Preppy Kitchen,” we’re making some creamy, delicious manicotti, so let’s get started. First off, set your oven to 350 and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium high heat, and don’t be stingy with the salt. It really gives you some flavor.

All right, I would say at least two tablespoons of salt. Pop it onto medium high heat, cover it up, and now, we can prep the filling. As soon as our water comes to a boil, we’re gonna add our manicotti in. In the meantime, we have to shred one cup of grated parmesan.

If you haven’t had homemade manicotti, you are missing out. This is a really easy dish that’s hearty, comforting, and just delicious. You can make it with so many different substitutions, and once you assemble it, you just pop it into the fridge and cover it for up to three days,

And then bake it off on demand. It’s so easy. My parmesan’s done and my mozzarella’s already shredded, so grab a big bowl and we’re gonna mix everything up together and talk about some substitutions you could do. My water’s come to a boil, so it’s time to add in 10 manicotti tubes.

Be gentle with these. You do not want them to break. Into a large bowl, I’m adding 15 ounces or 425 grams of ricotta cheese. This is the creamy magic that’s the base of our filling. I’m also gonna add two large eggs in. I’m gonna give the eggs a quick beat inside of here,

Just so that it mixes really well. Manicotti is the Italian American version of cannelloni. They’re very similar and there are so many delicious variations to try. Think of this as a blank canvas to which you could add your favorites or substitute in things that you love.

Now, for two cups or 226 grams of shredded mozzarella. Your manicotti actually cooks really quickly. The package says seven minutes, but I like to go on the al dente side, and my stove is so hot, it cooks things faster, so we’re gonna grab these and drain them before they overcook.

And they’re gonna cool for about 10 minutes, which gives us plenty of time to finish our filling. By the way, my new book, “Preppy Kitchen Super Easy” is available for pre-order now. There’s a link in the description box below so you can grab a copy, but it’s nothing but easy, quick, streamlined recipes,

And they’re all delicious. Enjoy. We have two cups of shredded mozzarella here, but we’re only gonna use half of it for the filling. The rest of it goes on top. So, grab one cup. To add some lovely gentle flavor, I’m adding three tablespoons of freshly chopped,

I was about to say parsley. (buzzer buzzes) To add some lovely flavor, I’m adding three tablespoons of freshly chopped basil. Sometimes when I make this, I’ll add two big handfuls of spinach that I’ve wilted and just fold that in. So, get all the water out. It’s nothing but, like, flavor and beautiful emerald green. If you wanna make this even more substantial, you can fold in some ground meat

That you’ve cooked and seasoned appropriately, so really make this your own. These tubes can hold so many delicious things. One of my pet peeves is a bland cheesy filling, so add one teaspoon of salt to really let you taste things. Otherwise, you’re just getting, like, dull cheese notes. There’s no flavor.

And half a teaspoon of black pepper. If you wanna add any other spices that you love, go ahead. This is your dish. Stir this together until it’s well combined and all your flavors are distributed to your cheeses, the eggs, as well as your basil and Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together,

And just distribute everything nicely. This will fill your manicotti tubes and make a delicious creamy filling. The easiest way to do this is to grab a big piping bag and transfer the filling right inside, and that’s what I’m gonna do. If you don’t have a piping bag handy,

You could use a plastic bag that you snip the tip off of, or you could carefully spoon it in, but that might take a while. Into our 9-by-13 inch casserole dish, we’re gonna add (lid pops) a cup of your favorite marinara. I’m just gonna estimate it.

And just spoon it around so it forms a nice even base. If you have any concerns about sticking, go ahead and grease the pan, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Okay, just move it out to the edge. Now, let’s transfer our filling into our piping bag.

By the way, when you buy manicotti, they don’t come in packs of 10. I think they sell them in packs of 14, and you can make more, so some of them might get ripped, they might be broken. Just boil them all and you’ll probably end up using them. Grab your cooled manicotti,

Snip the tip off your piping bag, stuff ’em as much as you can without them ripping. If you love delicious things but you haven’t subscribed to the channel, hit that sub button and check out all my playlists. Tons of delicious things, and two new videos every single week.

Place that lengthwise in the pan and repeat. Some people who want ultimate creamy decadence use a bechamel sauce instead of marinara, which can be delicious. I like the acidity of the marinara though in contrast with the cheesy filling. Another thing you can do is instead of using manicotti,

You can make this with crepes. My friend’s dad does that and I hear it’s delicious, but I haven’t tried it. Add your last manicotti in, and now, we’re gonna top it with so many delicious things, starting with two cups of marinara all over the top, and once again, I’m gonna eyeball this.

It’s fine. You just don’t want the pasta to be exposed to the oven air, because that’ll dry it out. Like, it’ll re-dry the pasta and be so crunchy. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Covered. Just get it all coated, and you can use the back of your spoon to coat everything completely

And get a nice even layer of that marinara. Finish this off with the remaining cup of shredded mozzarella and the remaining half-cup of shredded parmesan. My manicotti is ready to go into the oven, or the refrigerator if you wanna bake this later. I’m gonna make it now, so 350 for about 40 minutes,

Or until it’s melted and bubbly on top, then we’re gonna switch this to broil and broil it for one to three minutes until it’s nice and golden on top. In you go. Once baked, allow it to cool slightly, garnish with basil, and it’s ready to enjoy. That’s cheesy, hearty, delicious, satisfying,

And it gives, like, really nice lasagna vibes. I hope you get a chance to make this recipe, and if you like this video, check out my pasta playlist.