Coaching Cooking

Sometimes throwing together a quick dish works out pretty darn well. One night I decided I wanted to make a manicotti dish using Golden Grain pasta shells (the manicotti ones).

Here’s a quick version of manicotti using store-bought ingredients. If you can find an already prepared spinach or other leafy green dish then it really helps. I used a delicious dish from A.G. Ferrari Foods called Erbette which includes swiss chard, spinach, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil.

Jenny’s Quick Manicotti:

Ingredients:

Manicotti shells or fresh pasta sheets
Store-bought spinach or kale, already cooked with garlic and pine nuts OR frozen spinach, thawed and drained OR quick-cooked spinach drained
One package of turkey sausage links
2 cups of Mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used the fresh mozzarella, but the pre-shredded works too)
A jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I like Classico Mushroom and Onion or Classico Arrabiata)
Optional: pine nuts and chopped garlic

Directions:

Cook the turkey sausage, drain off the oil and fat and coarsely chop it into bite-sized pieces. Cook the pasta as directed on the package and be sure not to overcook the pasta. Have a baking pan ready and line the bottom of the pan with a half cup of the pasta sauce. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while you prepare the manicotti.

In a large bowl, mix the spinach, turkey sausage, 1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper to taste. You can also add toasted pine nuts and chopped garlic to this mixture. You can also add a little of the pasta sauce to the filling for extra flavor.

The manicotti can be difficult to fill so use a small spoon to push the filling into the pasta. If the manicotti breaks while you are filling it, don’t worry. You can always put the cut or broken side face down and no one will know! Arrange the stuffed manicotti in the baking dish and top with the remaining pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Cover the manicotti with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until hot. Take the aluminum foil off the baking dish during the last five minutes so the cheese melts on top of the pasta.

I recommend serving this dish with a light green salad and some hot French bread. You can throw the French bread in the oven with the manicotti for the last ten minutes so it heats up (wrap the bread in some aluminum foil).

Eh, mangia!