Baked Spinach and Ricotta Manicotti – An Adaptable Recipe that Produces a Hearty Dinner

With leftover spinach ricotta filling from my first stuffed pasta, I decided to attempt the Cook's Illustrated Baked Manicotti.  I thought the manicotti would be less time consuming than making and stuffing fresh pasta again, and while I was correct, the multiple steps required also make this more of a weekend than weeknight meal.

I first sautéed leftover spinach, red onion, and garlic, and combined it with leftover ricotta to supplement the pre-made spinach and ricotta filling.  I then soaked the Wegmans no-boil lasagna noodles as directed, and then filled and rolled the shells with the filling.  The approx. half leftover spinach ricotta filling was enough to fill 4 rolls and then newly sautéed spinach mixture enough for 2.  I then decided to use jarred tomato sauce – Wegmans Diavolo – instead of fresh, grated some parmesan on top, and baked the manicotti for 34 minutes.  As directed, I then broiled the dish before serving.

Many steps, but for a great result – tangy from the tomato sauce, fatty and rich from the ricotta, and fresh herb-y flavors jumping out from the spinach.  The recipe took very well to my adaptations (jarred sauce, leftover filling with different ingredients, an improvised new filling of leftovers), such that I think this will be a well used recipe in the future.