Three Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

I've made this dish for many years now using a variation of my favorite lasagna recipe. Serve it up with a tossed green salad and a thick loaf of crusty Italian bread for a full meal.

Ingredients:

1 package manicotti pasta tubes (or large pasta shells)

1 egg

1 large carton cottage cheese

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp parsley flakes

1 Tbsp mixed dried herbs or oregano

The key to cooking good pasta is to use plenty of boiling water and salt. Be generous with the salt. A good rule of thumb is to use enough salt to cover the palm of your hand.

Be careful not to over-cook the pasta. It should be soft, but not soggy. Remove cooked manicotti and let rest in packaging until cool.

For filling: In medium-sized mixing bowl, beat egg, then add cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, half the mozzarella cheese, parsley and herbs. Mix well.

I had some fresh mushrooms that needed to be used up, so I sauteed them in a little olive oil and added them into the filling mixture. This is a great dish to improvise with. Try adding chopped bell peppers, courgettes (zucchini squash), aubergines (eggplant), or even some diced chicken.

Prepare your baking dish by spreading half a jar of spaghetti sauce along the bottom.

Using a long-handled dessert spooon, stuff filling into each manicotti tube. Then, place in baking dish on top of sauce.

Pour remaining spaghetti sauce on top of manicotti and sprinkle with the remaning mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and increase oven temperature to 400 F (200 C) and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden-brown and bubbly.