Homemade Spinach Manicotti

I made some crêpes this morning in order to make this dish. It's the standard old "stuffed manicotti" you've probably had a hundred times, but lightened up by Gina at skinnytaste.com (yet again).

It's really easy to make and cooks in under 30 minutes.

I really liked the filling and the homemade crêpes were a great new take on that thick noodle you've had before.

Homemade Spinach Manicotti

(from here)

15 oz part skim ricotta cheese

2 cups 2% milk reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (reserve 1/4 cup)

1 large egg

8 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup Parmesan Reggiano

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper 

16 crespelles (recipe here)

24 oz marinara sauce (Divided) (homemade is nice, jarred/canned is fine here)

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Begin by combining the ricotta, mozzarella (saving 1/4 cup), egg, parmesan and salt and pepper. Stir very well to combine.

Add the spinach. Stir well again.

Yummy

Grap a crispelle and place 1/4 cup of the filling in the center.

Spread it out evenly.

Roll it up.

Make sure it's pretty tight as we're going to pack them in.

This picture is misleading because the original recipe was misleading, but go ahead and pour all but 1/4 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the dish.

I used a 9x13.

Imagine lots more sauce on the bottom.

Repeat building the manicotti until the pan is filled.

I got 14 crammed in there.

Pour the remaining sauce over top and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over that.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

I took off the foil and baked for 5 more minutes.

Serve with some of the sauce from the bottom of the pan.

Because these manicotti aren't made from thick noodles, they did a great job of soaking up a lot of the sauce in the bottom of the pan. They had a nice body to them and really worked with the filling.

The filling was surprisingly rich tasting and worked well with the sauce.

Overall this ended up being a great dish that was quick to put together and a hit with the family.

Enjoy!