Manicotti blues....

Two weeks ago I had the urge to make lasagna.  I bought some ricotta cheese from the store along with some fresh button mushrooms to make a vegetarian lasagna.  Where is the lasagna noodle you are thinking? Well, I thought that I had some stashed away in my pantry to be used for a special day, but turns out when I went to look, lo and behold they were manicotti noodles! Ok, no big deal, just a change in plans.  I can make stuffed manicotti, same ingredients just different technique and look.

The ingredients!

I combined16oz of ricotta cheese with a vegetable mixture of sauteed sliced mushrooms, onions, and spinach, and added extra shredded mozzarella to that for extra cheesiness and then stuffed those manicotti noodles.

Cheesy Stuffed Manicotti
- 1 package of manicotti noodles cooked
- 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
- 1 16 oz container of ricotta cheese
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 package of spinach
- 1 container of sliced mushrooms
- 1 onion diced

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cooked manicotti noodles as directed on the package, drain in colander carefully so that noodles do not break and set aside.
3. Saute onions, mushrooms, and spinach in a separate pan and let cool
4. Combine ricotta, mozzarella, and sauteed vegetables together
5. Stuff manicotti carefully as noodles are breakable.  
6. Spread about a cup of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan and lay manicotti in rows.  Spread the rest of the spaghetti sauce on top of the dish and layer with extra mozzarella.
7. Place in oven and cook for about 30 minutes covered and leave the last 15 minutes uncovered 

Boiling manicotti

Getting stuffed

Layered in dish

Voila!

The manicotti did not come out as I expected.  The filling tasted too much of ricotta and not enough of the stringy salty cheesiness of mozzarella.  I would definitely add another cup of mozzarella to the filling and would have also added more sauce to the entire dish as it thickens and dries up as it bakes in the oven.  Overall a sad dish for me.  Lesson learned today, make sure I have all the ingredients I need in the pantry before I go to the store!