Manicotti, or Stuffed Cheese Shells

Ingredients

Package of Jumbo Pasta Shells or a Package of Manicotti Shells

Medium size container of Ricotta Cheese

One bag of Italian Blend Shredded Cheese

Parsley, Salt, Oregano, and Basil for Seasoning

One cup of shredded Parmesan Cheese

Two Cans of Pasta Sauce

Time:  approximately 1 hour prep and cook time combined

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 So you can make this meal either with Jumbo pasta Shells, or Manicotti pasta shells.  The Jumbo pasta shells are a bit easier, but I think the Manicotti is a bit more classy.  Not that either of these are classy.  

We're doing half and half of both just so you can see.  It is the same recipe, just different pasta.

 Get a pot of water boiling, and put your pasta in to boil for about 7-10 minutes.  You don't want it really soft or it will fall apart as you're putting the stuffing in.  And you don't want them too under-cooked either, or you'll end up with crunchiness.  So while those are boiling, you're gonna make your cheese stuffing.

 You will just use a container of Ricotta cheese.  We use the part skim kind.  You'll also use a bag of Italian blend type shredded cheese.  Put those in a large bowl.

Then add some spices.  We put in some Basil, Oregano, Parsley, and some Salt.  

Maybe a Tablespoon of each.  We just eye-balled it.

 Stir it all up with a fork.

 It'll look like this.

 Then get a baking pan and two cans of pasta sauce.  We're making a 9x13 dish here, so 2 is good.  Half it if you're making less of course.

 Coat the bottom of your pan with some sauce.

 Drain and rinse your pasta with cool water to cool them down.

Scoop spoonfuls of the cheese mixture into your pasta shells.  This is fairly easy to do with the pasta shells.  You'll place them into your dish when they are full.

 Then we stuffed our manicotti shells.  This is a bit trickier to do, but Eden did marvelously well.
Put them in the pan.

 Looks like this!

 Then you'll pour the rest of your pasta sauce on top of your pasta shells.

 Spread it around evenly.

 Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.  Totally optional.

 Almost there!

 Put it in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Baking options are pretty flexible depending on whether you're gonna put it in the fridge or freezer to bake later or if you want it to slow cook, or quick cook.  You could also cover it with tinfoil if you want it to be a little softer and more gooey.