Cheesy Baked Manicotti

Z's parents were in town for the day, so while they spent the day catching up and moving more things into his apartment, I went for an amazing sunny drive and did my errands.  It is these kinds of days which remind me why I moved here -- so beautiful!  Needless to say, by 4 PM I was just arriving home and wanted to put together something quick and yummy for my roommate, Z, and myself.  This took just shy of an hour to do the prep, baking, and cooling!  It was "Just ordered this at an Italian restaurant" good -- don't take my word for it, just try it today!

Ingredients:

1/2 TB salt

12 manicotti (8oz box)

2 3/4 C ricotta cheese (~22 oz)

1 C parmesan cheese, grated

3/4 C mozzarella, shredded

1 large egg

1/4 C minced fresh basil

1/4 C minced fresh parsley

1/4 tsp pepper

3 C tomato sauce (you can use any brand, I just used a jar of Prego!)

Adjust an oven rack to the middle slot and preheat the oven to 400 F.  Put 16 cups of water into a large pot and bring to a boil  Once the water is at a full boil, stir in a 1/2 TB of salt and the manicotti noodles.  Cook the noodles, stirring often, so they are tender but still a little firm to the touch (for me this took about 5-7 minutes).  When they are cooked, drain the pan and spread the manicotti tubes out on a baking sheet and let cool.

In a large bowl mix together the ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, egg, basil, and pepper.  Spoon the filling into a large zip-lock bag and cut a hole in the corner of the bag--you will be using this to pipe the filing.  Pick up the manicotti tubes one at a time and fill with the mixture, gently squeezing the bag from the top.  If you prefer, you can also just carefully spoon the mixture into the tubes.  Once they are  filled, arrage them in an oiled 9 X 13 baking dish.

Pour the tomato sauce over the filled pasta.  Take some aluminum foil and tightly wrap the top of baking dish and bake until the sauce is bubbling around the pasta, about 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.   When it is done baking, pull the dish out and let cool for 5 minutes before dishing up!

Adapted from: America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook