Three-Cheese Manicotti

I have tried several different manicotti recipes over the years and have always had some issue with each one. I made this recipe the other night for dinner and really enjoyed it. It has become my favorite manicotti recipe. The big difference is the sauce. Every other recipe I have tried called for canned spaghetti sauce, but making the sauce yourself makes the difference. Although I didn't freeze this recipe, I'm sure it would freeze fine.

Three-Cheese Manicotti
from The Food Nanny by Lix Edmunds
(By the way I really do love this cookbook. It's not a freezer cooking book, but all her recipes are relative simple and many of them can be frozen.)

Sauce:
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
¼ cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 TB olive oil
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
¼ tsp dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
¼ tsp salt

12 uncooked manicotti shells

Filling:
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp salt
Pinch black ground pepper

Cook onion & garlic in oil on medium until onions are tender but not browned. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Decrease heat and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring often. Add water if needed. Remove bay leaf.

Cook pasta according to package while sauce is cooking. Rinse in cold water and drain.

Preheat oven to 350.

In medium bowl combine ingredients for filling (reserve 1 cup mozzarella). Spoon filling into a gallon size Ziploc bag, seal and cut off a small corner. Stuff manicotti shells by piping the filling in each end. Do not overstuff.

Pour half of sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Arrange stuffed pasta shells over sauce and top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with reserved mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly.

Greek Pasta Bake

I tried a new recipe tonight from the Taste of Home Ultimate Chicken Cookbook. We really liked it, and it's one I will add to my list of potential freezer recipes. Whenever I try a new recipe I only make a single batch to make sure we really like it before filling our freezer with several pans of it. I have made that mistake before, and we had to choke through three batches of seafood lasagna that neither of us really liked.

I made a few adjustments to this recipe and thought the outcome was quite enjoyable. I would have used Greek seasoning, but I ran out and wasn't able to find more after searching two grocery stores. The original recipe calls for 1 tsp of basil and 1 tsp of oregano. I doubled both to give it more flavor. It was also a touch dry. After baking, it ended up being a bit dry. I added about one cup of canned spaghetti sauce which greatly improved it.

Greek Pasta Bake

1 pkg (12 oz) penne pasta
4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 can (29 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cans (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (divided)

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, chicken, tomato saouce, tomatoes, spinach, olives, onion, green pepper, basil, oregano, and 1/2 cup feta.

Freeze pasta mixture in a Ziploc bag. Place remaining cheeses in a separate quart size Ziploc bag and attach to the pasta bag.

Thaw in the fridge. Transfer to a 9x13 in baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining feta and mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

I know it is a success when super picky Claire is willing to eat it.

Mom's Lasagna

Tonight we're having lasagna for dinner. Pasta dishes such as lasagna freeze great. Assemble the dish as normal, but don't cook the noodles. Drizzle about 1/4 cup water over your assembled lasagna, cover with foil and the baking dish lid. Freeze. Thaw in the fridge and bake as usual. Here is my mom's recipe. It's the one I have always used.

Lasagna
1 lb hamburger
1-2 cloves garlic
1 chopped onion
1 can tomato sauce
½ c water
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
½ tsp thyme
1 can tomato soup
2 tsp vinegar
9 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 pt cottage cheese
1 pt ricotta cheese
½ lb mozzarella
Parmesan

Brown hamburger garlic and onion, drain grease. Add tomato sauce, spices, water, soup, and vinegar. Simmer 30 minutes. Assemble by layering noodles, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, meat sauce, and mozzarella, repeat three times. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese if desired. Cook at 350 for about an hour until bubbly.


The assembly process for a large batch. This is a quadruple batch that I put into one 9x13 and six 8x8 pans.