Kittencal's Spinach & Four-Cheese Manicotti (Vegetarian)
I have been making this recipe for years, it is *the best* manicotti recipe hands down! --- I have made this many times for dinner parties and have made it for socials and large gatherings increasing amounts of coarse, I have even served this at my Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday table as an extra dish along with a turkey or ham --- to save time I always mix up the filling a day ahead and refrigerate this will also give the flavors a chance to blend together, or you may prepare up to step #9 cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours --- don't forget to cook the spinach first before using for this recipe
Reviews
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Great recipe!I have made this three times. The first time, I followed it as listed. I never made manicotti before, and didn't realize how much work goes into stuffing the things. The second time, I used only half as much spinch, but I used fresh also. Seemed to me to be the perfect amount. The third time, I was lazy and used jumbo shells, and of course its the filling that makes this dish. Filling the shells was alot easier than the manicotti.Awesome recipe.EDIT: I have now made these over 50 times. I still swear by this recipe. The only tweaks are the ones listed above, and occasionally I add 1/2 pound of hot or mild Italian Sausage. Browning them, and draining the fat. Then I let it cool to room temp., before adding to the mixture. -
Very, very good!! I never cook the shells though, Always raw. I just add about 1/2 cup of water to the sauce and cook it about 20 minutes longer. Much easier to stuff the shells.
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Very good manicotti recipe. I usually just throw together my ingredients but decided to follow a recipe this time. It was very easy to make and turned out delicious. I find that when I undercook the manicotti noodles by a minute or two, they are easier to stuff and they soften up fine as they cook. They were still slightly stiff as I stuffed them. I liked the addition of the cream cheese and the spinach. The version I usually make has egg instead of cream cheese. I used a canned marinara sauce this time but next time I plan to make Kittencal's Marinara that looks wonderful. I expect it will make this even better!
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Very yummy! Like something you would get an Italian restaurant. I only had fresh spinach, so I steamed about 4 cups in place of the frozen spinach. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly.
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So rich, creamy and delicious. I made the filling three days prior to using. On the morning of the day I was serving, I cooked the manicotti just until they were flexible, piped the filling in the manicotti, using a zip-lock bag and that made them easier to fill.I kept them in the fridge until I was ready to bake. They turned out just perfect, really flavorful. I added the optional onion and didn't cook the frozen spinach, but did squeeze out as much water as I could. I'm looking forward to the leftovers and to making them again.Thanks for sharing this recipe.
