There are days when I don’t want to be homemade. I don’t want to make everything myself, and marvel at how much better everything tastes. I also have days were making you’re own tomato sauce just seems like it’s too much of a hassle, even for me. Even adding extra oregano is a chore.
However, I do still have to eat. And on the days that homemade is too demanding I got for my partly-storebought-home-assembled dishes. This manicotti dish has almost nothing in it that’s homemade, and perfectly original, it is however, delicious, easy, and takes only 15 minutes to put together.
For the Filling:
- 1 24 oz bag of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 bar of cream cheese
- 1/2 lemon, juice and zested
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp of ground cloves
- 2 tbsp of granulated onion
- 1 tbsp granulated garlic
- 1 box manicotti pasta, cooked and left to cool slightly
- 1 large can of Heinz tomato sauce, in any flavor you like. I used garlic and herb
- 1 cup mozerella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Add all the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Set aside.
Prepare an 8×8 inch square dish. By prepare, I mean, simply add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce to the bottom instead of oil. This will keep the manicotti from sticking and also keep it moist.
Stuff the manicotti, by using a teaspoon, and slowly adding the mixture into the hole. If this doesn’t work, you can always open up the manicotti and stuff it that way, and then close it back up. The stuffing should keep it together, because it’s very sticky by itself, thanks to the cream cheese.
Cover with tomato sauce when all manicotti is stuffed and in the pan. Sprinkle with mozerella and parmesan cheese, to your preference. I usually prefer tons of cheese!
Bake in over for 25 minutes, till cheese is melted.
