I got this recipe from one of my best friends in Virginia back when we each had a couple babies to juggle and big dreams of writing a book on Motherhood organization. Yeah, we had it all down. We had a big outline and everything and worked week after week on it along with crafts of all sorts as our kids toddled around together. There was only one problem: one of us wasnāt very organized. But at least I was organized enough to copy down a few good recipes from her including one for spinach manicotti.
Weāve used it ever since. Over and over. Cause itās easy-peasy. And good. And includes spinach. Which is always a good thing in my book. This is what you need:
(Any kind of spaghetti sauce will doā¦that vodka sauce is just all we had on handā¦and it was good I must say.) Oh, and you need this too:
Here you go: 1 small onion diced 8 oz. cottage cheese 10 oz. frozen spinach (or 1 1/2 c. fresh chopped) 2 eggs shredded mozzarella cheese (as much as you wantā¦I usually do around 1-1 1/2 cups) Mix together:
Fill the manicotti shells with your mixture and place them in a 9×13 pan with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce spread on the bottom:
This is kind of a messy job, but someoneās got to do it. 
(Place them kind of far apart because they grow when they cook.) Then spoon some spaghetti sauce on top.
Then sprinkle some fresh mozzarella cheese on that.
Add a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan to give it a little moisture, cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Uncover and cook for 15 more minutes. Voila, deliciousness ready for dinner. Thanks, Stephanieā¦miss you and all those days filled with our toddlers who are now in high school!
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This looks amazing. Going to make it tonight for dinner, thanks for the recipe!
i think i am going to make it too! I have been wondering what to do tonight, and i have all those things on hand š Thanks!!!
PS, had to share this recipe!
1lbs ( or whatever), of ground beef
jar of VODKA sauce
onion
velveeta cheese
pasta.. your choice
cook & drain pasta
cook and drain ground beef
add onion, and put in large pan, add in vokda sauce, and then slice up chunks of velveeta and pop in over.. soooo eaasy and sooo good!!!
serve with salad !
that should read pop on oven!
Do you cook the manicotti shells first or stuff them uncooked?
I make homemade manicotti all the time, lots of different variations. There's a really good seafood version that uses chopped cooked shrimp (you could also use scallops, crabmeat, or the imitation stuff) with alfredo sauce.
The only issue for me is that after you boil the manicotti noodles for the 10 miunutes the recipe says, it is almost impossible to fill them, they are so "floppy".
Thanks so much for the idea to stuff them without boiling first. I should have thought of that, and can't wait to try it next time!
I adapted this a little bit for our dinner tonight – I sauteed the diced onion with some diced mushrooms and then added the spinach. My husband hates the texture of cottage cheese, so I pureed it in the food processor before I mixed it with the vegetables and mozzarella. I can't wait to see how it turns out after I bake it for dinner. I'm so glad you shared this recipe and the idea of cooking it without boiling the noodles.
17Just wanted to add that this is DELICIOUS. So glad I attended to my Google Reader this morning!
We don't really care for the "feel" of cottage cheese either, so we use ricotta, an egg and softened cream cheese in the food processor. It's really creamy and melts well.
Can you use alcohol in cooking?
kms, seriously? you just can't wait to get a little jab in there can you – to stir up contention and put people on the defensive..
There is an internet term for that type of person – TROLL.
Don't worry, Shawni – the rest of us know that vodka pasta sauce has the flavor, not the actual booze in it.
This looks so good, Thanks!
Yum! I am stealing this! Thank you!
Sierra
Oh, Just Living the Dream
I am not a member. I thought LDS couldn't eat anything with coffee or alcohol in it. I asked caused I thought maybe that was a wrong assumption seeing it on a recipe. She has been open about questions. I have never had sauce with vodka anything. I don't know if they use vodka to get the flavor?
I also read Charly and sequel. I liked the movie Charly. Anyway in the sequel I remember this problem that they were over the dinner at the grandparents who were investigating the religion and some of the missionaries were concerned the desert had coffee or alcohol in it? Adam I think his name was didn't want to insult them by not eating it. Turned out it wasn't made with anything forbidden.
Hi kms, that is a good question. Any alcohol is cooked off when you cook this dish. It just gives it a good flavor. The Word of Wisdom that we adhere to is meant to keep people healthy and away from addictions and things that are harmful to their bodies, not to keep food from being tasty š
we had this tonight and it was delicious! all three of my girls gobbled it up, which rarely happens. and it was so easy to out together.
I used ricotta because I had some that needed to be used & it was perfect.
THANK YOU!
KMS – I don't think you're being a troll, I was thinking the same thing and I'm LDS but just joined the Church recently and I have questions like that ALL the time because it actually takes a long time to burn out the alcohol and since I know what it tastes like from my days pre-member, whenever I cook with alcohol, I can seriously TASTE it. I think it's a good question and I'm glad you asked it. It's fair. It does burn out, just takes a LONG time.
I made this the other night for my family and we all loved it.
Thank you for sharing your recipes Shawni. I can see the simplicity and health benefits in all of them and I take comfort knowing that you manage to cook this with 5 kids and a crazy schedule and the big bonus – 5 kids loved it!! So any recipe ticking all of those boxes are hard to come by.
Thanks again,
Meg.