Easy Baked Manicotti

photo by:kraft

Italian restaurants ain't got nothin' on your kitchen. Rich, homemade pesto manicotti is easier than it looks. Our video walks you through it, and you get all the complimen...read more

time

prep:

15 min

total:

55 min

servings

total:

6 servings

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What You Need

cups spaghetti sauce, divided

1-3/4

cups POLLY-O Original Ricotta Cheese

1-1/2

cups KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1/2

cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

egg, beaten

1/4

cup pesto

cooked manicotti shells, rinsed in cold water

Make It

HEAT oven to 350°F.

SPREAD 3/4 cup sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Mix cheeses, egg and pesto until blended; spoon into resealable plastic bag. Use scissors to cut small corner from bottom of bag.

FILL manicotti shells by squeezing cheese mixture into both sides of each shell; place in baking dish. Top with remaining sauce; cover.

BAKE 40 min. or until heated through.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Size-Wise

Enjoy your favorite foods on occasion, but keep portion size in mind. This recipe makes enough to serve 6.

Substitute

Substitute BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Cottage Cheese for the ricotta and/or KRAFT 100% Grated Romano Cheese for the Parmesan.

Variation

If you prefer a more traditional style manicotti, simply omit the pesto.

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sghale24

posted:10/4/2011

Love this recipe and make it often. It is a favorite to serve to guests, they are always so impressed and its so easy!

almisty

posted:7/17/2011

I filled the shells while they were raw, added a bit more spaghetti sauce (3c) and 1/2 water to the pan and they came out perfectly. No splitting the shells at all.

a cook

posted:5/23/2011

This was my first attempt at manicotti - It was more difficult than expected to get the filling in the long noodles. And when the noodles baked they went flat. BUT I did love the combination of flavors!!! I will make the recipe again, but with large stuffed shells :) I also think adding extra marinara is a plus!!

IzabellasMama

posted:4/19/2011

Loved the recipe, super yummy, except my shells came out undercooked, even though I baked it for the full 40 minutes. Any helpful hints to fix this?

trinaleega

posted:4/17/2011

This went on our family fav list! We put ground beef in the sauce. YUM!

marisa-h

posted:3/15/2011

Having made this delicious recipe 3 times, here are a few ideas: 1. Consider splurging on a higher quality purchased spaghetti sauce. 2. Carefully time boiling the manicotti shells. Plunge them in a bowl of Ice water immediately after draining (have the bowl ready before draining). 3. I was able to stuff the shells more quickly with a pastry bag than with a freezer bag. 4. Top the casserole with additional mozzarella and parmesan for eye-appeal and flavor. 5. This is a nice entree to give to a family with a newborn baby.

FatCatMama

posted:3/13/2011

This was very good! The whole family said they would like me to make it again. I used a little extra pesto and next time I might add extra spices, but it was still good as is. I boiled the manicotti for half the time it said on the box and they didn't split when I filled them. I used the whole jar of spaghetti sauce (more like 3 cups) so the noodles came out perfect. YUM!

billbert

posted:2/26/2011

Great hit with wife and to myself. I could not figure how to get the manicotti from splitting.

Elly73

posted:2/23/2011

Just awesome. Kids loved it & begged for 2nd & 3rds.

cheezy45

posted:12/11/2010

first time I made accourding to recipe...second time doubled the sauce and added paste...third time added 8 oz of sour cream to the cheese mixture...now I have it perfected...delicous!