Manicotti

This is a good recipe for this time of year. It's great for a gathering, which is how I used it this past weekend. I made three pans of it for an annual dinner party we were hosting (and baked it next door in my neighbor's oven since our 2.5 year old oven was on the blink!!) We added a big green salad, a fresh fruit salad and hot bread to round-out the meal and had a wonderful evening. By the way, leftover manicotti can be frozen for future use.

Manicotti

Meat filling:

1 pound ground chuck

1/4 cup chopped onion (I used frozen)

3 slices bread made into bread crumbs (I used my blender)

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 T. dried parsley

scant teaspoon black pepper

salt to taste

Pasta:

1 8 ounce package manicotti tubes

(**note: I was only able to find it in the store brand; name brands didn't seem to have it in the three groceries I checked. I have no aversion to store brand, but am curious why they're the only ones who produce it.)

Sauce:

1 4 ounce can mushroom stems and pieces

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce (the large can)

1 12 ounce can tomato paste (the large can)

1/4 can chopped onion (I used onion powder in the sauce and onions with the meat.)

3 cups water

1 T. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Other:

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top when finished 

Cook meat and onion in large skillet. Drain fat and remove from heat. Stir in remaining filling ingredients. Fill uncooked pasta tubes, packing into both ends. Place shells in a 9 by 13 pan which has been lightly sprayed with spray oil. Combine all ingredients for the sauce and simmer in pan. Pour over noodles. Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half. (**Start checking for doneness at about an hour, though. One of my pans seemed too done around the edges.) Sprinkle with parmesan cheese when it comes out of the oven. Allow it to sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

I hope you like it!