Recipe for Spinach-stuffed Manicotti

Time for another recipe from my good friend Davis:

8 large eggs (Costco)
Pam (Costco)
1.5 lb. Tarantino mild Italian Sausage (Costco)
¼ to ½ of a 24 oz. package of Dole Baby Portobello Mushrooms (Costco)
1 each 4 lb. 3 oz. jar of Prego Italian Sauce – Traditional (Costco)
2 each 1 lb. logs of BelGioioso mozzarella cheese (Costco)
½ cup packed, peeled and finely grated carrots (Costco)
2 each 16 oz. (1 lb.) bags Birds Eye, C&W chopped Baby Spinach (Target)
1 each 15 oz. container Precious Part Skim Ricotta Cheese (split into 2 parts) (Target)
2 each 1 tsp black pepper (Costco)
2 each ½ tsp salt (Target)
2 each 8 oz. box American Beauty Manicotti, 16 shells (Target)
2 increments of 4 TBs each Kraft Grated Parmesan cheese (Costco)
Additional grated Parmesan cheese for topping.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut raw sausage into bite-size or smaller pieces. Wash and slice the mushrooms. In a Teflon frying pan, brown the sausage and set aside. Leave any drippings in the pan. Sauté the mushrooms in the sausage drippings until tender.

In a large, deep pot, pour in all of the Prego sauce; add the browned sausage and the sautéed mushrooms. Add finely grated carrots. Stir well. Put sauce on the stove at simmer for the duration of the preparations to allow the sauce to absorb the flavor of the sausage and mushrooms. Stir occasionally.

Heat one bag of frozen spinach in a steamer until thoroughly thawed.

Chop one mozzarella cheese log into ½” cubes or smaller.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, break four large eggs and beat them. Then add the chopped mozzarella, 7 ½ oz. (½ of the container) ricotta, 1 tsp pepper, ½ tsp salt, 4 TBS Parmesan and stir thoroughly.

Prepare two 9” x 13” baking pans (I like Pyrex) by spraying them on the inside, especially the bottom, with Pam so the manicotti shells will not stick.

Place one box’s worth (16) of manicotti shells in each casserole dish. Remove thawed spinach from heat. Drain if needed. Add spinach to egg/cheese mixture while stirring briskly so that eggs do not cook. Mix thoroughly.

Start the second bag of spinach cooking/thawing.

Stuff the manicotti shells by placing one end flat against the bottom of the casserole dish and filling the shell from the top. I use an iced teaspoon because it has a small enough bowl to fit into the shell and a long handle for reaching into the mixing bowl. Use all of the stuffing on only one casserole dish. Do not worry about spilling a little around the shells; there will be more than enough. When all shells are filled, spread the rest of the stuffing around the dish, filling any empty spaces. Smooth out stuffing. Set aside the first casserole dish.

Chop up the second log of mozzarella. Beat the other 4 eggs into the mixing bowl, add the chopped mozzarella, the rest of the ricotta, 1 tsp pepper, ½ tsp salt, 4 TBS grated Parmesan cheese, (just like before).

Place second box of manicotti shells in second casserole dish.

As soon as the spinach is fully thawed, drain if necessary and then add to the egg/cheese mixture while stirring briskly and thoroughly.

Stuff the manicotti shells in the second dish; use all the stuffing to fill in empty spaces after all shells are filled. Smooth out stuffing.

Place the two casserole dishes side-by-side.

Remove sauce from heat. Ladle the sauce over the manicotti shells, dividing the sauce equally between the two casserole dishes. Smooth out sauce.

Sprinkle more grated parmesan cheese over the top of both casserole dishes to taste. I like parmesan, so I keep putting it on until it takes at least five minutes for the tomato sauce to be absorbed by the cheese. I leave “white caps.”

Bake both casserole dishes at 350°F for forty-five (45) minutes.

The casserole can be served immediately (the shells will be slightly ‘al dente’) or cooled and frozen (covered) for later use. Like most Italian food, it tastes even better the next day because the flavors have been allowed to meld and the shells will be thoroughly softened, but at this house, no one can wait to test it.

Davis Farnsworth, 06/25/2010