Grandma's Kitchen Old-World Manicotti

We have used this recipe in our family SOOOO many times. It's really a family favorite. Originally, my sister submitted it to our family cookbook from a set of recipe cards she had called "Grandma's Kitchen." I have only adapted it slightly from the original. Simple, quick, easy, and great for a freezer meal if you want to do several batches all at once... this is a staple for our house! Enjoy!

Grandma's Kitchen Old-World Manicotti (revised)

12 large manicotti shells
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups ricotta cheese
6 Tbl fresh or 2 Tbl dry basil
1 and 1/2 jars/cans (26 oz. size) spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cups grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Cook pasta for approximately 7 minutes (you want them to still be firm enough to handle with out breaking apart when you stuff the cheese inside, so don't over cook).  Drain; rinse with cool water.  Let pasta dry on paper towels, if desired.  For filling, in medium bowl, stir together 3 cups mozzarella with the ricotta and basil.  Carefully stuff pasta shells with prepared cheese mixture.  

Spoon enough spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish to cover the bottom.  Arrange stuffed pasta over sauce.  Pour remaining sauce over top of pasta.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella (or enough to cover the top nicely). Loosely tent the pan with foil, being careful to prevent the foil from sticking to the cheese during baking. Bake for 15 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and dish is mostly heated through. Remove foil tent. Sprinkle with the Parmesan; bake for 10 minutes longer.  For added presentation, at the very end, broil for a few minutes to give your cheese a nice golden crust on the top. Serve immediately.

* The original recipe calls for 1 can or jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (approximately 26 oz.), but I really like to make sure all my noodles are COMPLETELY covered in sauce so they don't have little dried out crunchy bits from being baked in the oven, so I up my sauce to more like 1 and 1/2 jars. Dried herbs are more concentrated in flavor (which is why you use 1/2 as much or less than when using fresh), but they are also less vibrant in color. If you are going for a "wow factor" then try using fresh.

Also, on the original recipe card, it gave a suggestion to try putting your filling in a pastry bag or plastic storage bag with the corner cut off, and then use that to stuff your shells. Just make sure the opening in the bag is approximately the save diameter as your shells.

If you are going to make batches to freeze, you can use 8x8 square pans for smaller 1/2 batches (6 manicotti), or a full 9x13's. (I like to use disposable foil pans for this, so all my nice glass pans aren't tied up in the freezer.) Prepare the pans as directed up to the point of tenting with foil and placing in the oven. Instead, go ahead and top with the Parmesan cheese that is typically reserved for the end and then tightly cover your pans with two layers of foil. Write the baking instructions on the top layer of foil with a permanent marker and place in the freezer. I would write, "Bake covered @ 350 for an hour frozen, or 15-20 minutes thawed. Remove foil and continue baking until browned and bubbly." Basically, write instructions to get across the point that you want to bake covered with foil until the sauce is bubbly and the center manicotti's internal temperature is at least 160 degrees. Once things are cooked through, remove the foil like normal and bake/broil for a few additional minutes until the top cheese is golden brown.