Stuffed Manicotti
Serves 4-6
This time of year begs for a flavorful, satisfying and warming meal. Enter the Italian-American classic…Stuffed Manicotti.
This is something to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon that can feed 4-6 people and always delights. Alternatively, if you don’t have a large block of time, you can make this in stages -sauce, filling, pasta, assembly- and just pop it in the oven when you’re ready.
Pair with...
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients
This makes a lot of sauce, so you will end up freezing some for another use. Otherwise, cut it in half.
1 lb sweet Italian sausage links
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 cup red wine
16 oz tomato paste
28-32 oz tomato pureé
1t fresh basil
1t salt
1t black pepper
Filling Ingredients
1 qt (4 cups) ricotta cheese
10 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup plain yogurt
3T olive oil
¼ cup parsley
2t salt
Shells
12 oz manicotti shells (about 10), cooked and set aside to cool
Preparation
Brown sausage in a Dutch oven and remove. The sausage will not be fully cooked at this point. Set aside.
Add beef to pot and brown. Remove and set aside.
Add onion to pot and cook until translucent.
Add wine to onions and scrape bottom of pot. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add tomato pureé, paste, basil, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Slice sausage into bite-sized chunks and add to sauce along with reserved beef.
Cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside.
In a bowl add all of the filling ingredients and mix to combine. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In batches, spoon the filling into a piping bag or use a spoon to fill the pasta shells.
Place the pasta in rows into a 9×13 baking pan.
Pour the sauce over the pasta.
Cook for 20 minutes in the oven.
Serve.
Chris Chisholm is a Certified Specialist of Wine and a graduate of Boston University Wine Studies and Wine Making programs. He is also a graduate of Cook Street School of Culinary Arts in Denver, CO. He has worked as a personal chef and chef instructor.
If you have any questions, email Chris at chris@snugharborwine.com. You can also follow Chris on Instagram @winechefchris for more delicious food photos!