Spinach Manicotti features 3 kinds of cheeses, spinach, jar sauce, and no meat. It is great for Meatless Monday, or any night of the week!
Whether you are looking for a new dish for Meatless Monday, are a vegetarian, or just trying to cut down on your meat consumption, this recipe for Spinach Manicotti is sure to be a hit.
Heck, my teenager (the picky one) even likes it.
I am such a lucky person to have a family that is so supportive and patient. When I told my husband I wanted to start a food blog he thought it was a great idea.
He has seen first-hand how much the internet has helped me find recipes and learn to cook new dishes.
Saturday, I thought I would make grilled chicken and roasted potatoes to put on this blog. It was really windy here in Kansas.
So I thought I should grill indoors (as not to catch the neighborhood on fire).
If you want to grill around here, you have to adjust so you are not inhibited by the weather. Temperature isn’t the only thing to consider. We have our share of blustery days.
I have a small grill pan that I use when I am grilling for just my husband and me, but I wanted to do enough for four. I went and bought a larger [Lodge] grill pan. It is the flat kind with no handles.
My smaller grill pan has a handle so I start the chicken on the stove-top to get those nice, tasty grill marks on both sides and then finish them off in the oven.
Well, I didn’t really think about it too much until I got home, but there is no way I would be able to move that screamin’ hot grill pan from the stove top to the oven without handles.
So the new grill pan will only be good to grill something that can be started and finished on the top of the stove. Perhaps pounding the chicken to an even thinness will be the trick.
I am going to have to experiment with that more because we could only eat the thin half of our chicken because the thick part wasn’t quite done enough.
Not to mention that they were obviously not worthy to post on this blog. I also made roasted potatoes, but since I forgot to photograph one of the steps, they were not blog-worthy either.
So neither dish I made could be used for this blog, and one of the dishes was barely edible, and to top it all off, we didn’t get to eat until after 9 pm.
No one complained though.
Today’s recipe is Spinach Manicotti. I originally got this recipe from Cooking Light and I have made a few changes.
Studies have shown that people trying to lose weight can get the same results eating full-fat dairy as opposed to low or no fat versions> So I use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese because it makes it more traditional, and quite frankly, tastes better.
This Spinach Manicotti is an easy dish that provides great nutrition without meat.
Wondering where I got this awesome ceramic baking dish? Check out Personal Creations for a ton of cool personalized items.
Looking for great Italian dishes with meat? Check out these Stuffed Pasta Shells or Mixed-Up Lasagna.
Spinach Manicotti
Ingredients
- 10 manicotti shells
- 2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese divided
- 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
- 10 oz frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 jar pasta sauce 24 ounces
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Cook manicotti shells for two minutes less than package directions, drain and let cool slightly so they are not too hot to handle.
- Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, spinach, Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Spray a 13" X 9" casserole dish with cooking spray and put enough sauce in the bottom so that it covers the surface.
- Carefully spoon cheese mixture into manicotti shells, place in casserole dish in a single layer.
- Top with remaining sauce.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil, top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Notes
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I like the idea of blending (or, rather, thorough mixing of) spinach with the other filling, rather than overpowering the manicotti with spinach alone. I may soon need to establish a diet…
We just replaced the meat in traditional meat manicotti with spinach to make it healthier. Thanks!
Sounds delicious Mindy and I absolutely agree about using the full fat dairy products..I never use low fat! Oh and love the personalized pan 🙂
Thanks!
Sounds delicious! I entirely agree about the “lite” dairy products all jacked up with extra sodium/sugars to make them taste better. Ricotta is a much, much, better alternative. See ya’ in the twittersphere.
Thanks for stopping by!
These are as good or better than you can get at any restaurant. The whole family loves these.