Simple Manicotti

For the last decade or so since I read it, Manicotti has always reminded me of this little strip of Calvin & Hobbes

Picture Courtesy: http://www.s-anand.net/calvinandhobbes.html#19951116
S Anand has a very interesting collection, and no, I don't know him from Adam and he is not paying me to plug it :0

Anyway, since Ana is not quite the Calvin, and since D was in the mood for it, I made a small batch for dinner some time back.

The recipe is really simple, just like for any pasta recipe I try to do on a weeknight: simply cook the manicotti pasta per package directions, stuff the manicotti tubes with your favorite stuffing (usually ricotta+herbs), top with sauce, bake for about 25 minutes.

Ingredients

6-8 tubes manicotti, dry
favorite tomato/pasta sauce

stuffing:
part-skim ricotta cheese
fresh grated part-skim mozzarella
fresh grated parmesan
dried herbs - basil, rosemary, marjoram, oregano leaves
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Pasta: cook the pasta per package directions, drain, keep handy
2. heat the oven to 350°F, keep a baking dish handy
3. Stuffing: combine required amounts of the cheeses and herbs, with a pinch of salt - I prefer more ricotta and parmesan, a little less of mozzarella, but, the proportions can be varied to your taste; can even add cooked spinach, keeping it as dry as possible
4. Sauce: can use store-bought sauce or make your own
5. Assembly: stuff the manicotti tubes with the cheese mixture; layer some sauce in the baking dish, arrange the manicotti over the sauce in a single layer, top with more sauce
6. Bake: in 350°F oven for about 25-30 minutes till cheese and sauce are bubbly