Manicotti ala Spange
1 Box of Manicotti pasta (I prefer Barilla)
1 16 oz container of ricotta (none of that lowfat crap)
3 cups of shredded mozarella
1 cup of grated parmasean cheese
2 eggs
1 small package of frozen chopped spinach (optional)
1 lb of ground beef (optional)
2 26oz jars of your favorite pasta sauce (make your own or buy what is on sale, but don't use Ragu. It sucks.)
Preheat oven to 350ºF
Get a big glass dish (14x17) and grease the bottom and sides. Put your manicotti in some boiling water and cook using directions on box. While it's boiling, brown your ground beef. Drain beef and rinse with cold water. (this will take out a TON of grease) Set aside. Do the same with the manicotti. If you don't, the pasta will get mushy and stick together.
Defrost your spinach and combine ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, parmasean cheese, eggs and beef. At this point, I add some black pepper and salt. Not much. If you don't know how much to add at this point, don't add it. You can mix this with a spoon or some fancy mixer, but I've found that using your hands works quite well. Let this rest for 10-15 minutes. (Don't know why this makes it better, but it just does).
Get your big, greasy dish and pour 1 jar of sauce in the bottom of the dish.
Now, this is the tricky part. You're gonna try to get the mixture in to the pasta. Now, you may already be well versed in shooving meaty cheese stuff in to a tiny hole, but this is a different situation. It is a pain to get the mixture in the pasta without tears. In fact, I have never been able to do it. So, I start from the begging with tearing. Split the pasta down the side with your finger and pack on some of the meaty cheese mixture. Wrap the pasta back around the stuffing and lay in the pan. Repeat till all pasta is used.
Pour the second jar of sauce over the stuffed manicotti. Cover all of this with the remaining cup of mozarella. I always add more cheese than this, but my colon can handle it.
Cover with aluminum foil and put it in the oven. Cook for 45 minutes @ 350. Take the aluminum off for the last 5 minutes to get the top nice and brown.
Take it out and let it rest for at least 10 mins. Seriously, don't skip this part. If you do, it won't stay together.
Dig in, bitches. It's yummylicious!
edit:
pics from a previous baking.