Are you on a low-calorie diet? Well, even if you aren’t, you will love this recipe! It tastes really light and fresh. In fact, the first words out of Andrew’s mouth when he tried it were, “This tastes too healthy.” 🙂 Needless to say, we both thought it was pretty yummy!
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Serves: 12

12 lasagna noodles (NOT no-boil)
2 garlic cloves
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 t. dried oregano
black pepper
1 (16 oz) container low-fat cottage cheese
1 (15 oz) container part-skim ricotta
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1-1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 c. + 2 T. grated Romano or Parmesan
1 bunch spinach, thick stems discarded, leaves roughly chopped

1. Heat oven to 400F/200C. Cook the noodles according to package directions.
2. In a food processor (I used my blender), pulse the garlic until finely chopped (I minced mine beforehand). Add the tomatoes, oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and process until pureed.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, ricotta, nutmeg, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Romano, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; fold in the spinach.
4. Spread 1/2 cup tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish. Top with 3 noodles and a quarter of the remaining sauce (a heaping 1/2 cup), and dollop with a third of the ricotta mixture (about 2 cups); repeat twice. Top with the remaining 3 noodles and sauce.
5. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Romano. Cover tightly with an oiled piece of foil (to prevent sticking) and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the noodles are tender and the top is golden brown, 10-15 minutes more.

**Each serving has about 255 calories, 9 g fat, 29 mg cholesterol, 522 mg sodium, 19 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber**

My mom’s manicotti recipe was always one of my favorites! It was like spaghetti (another favorite) but cheesier. 🙂 I think I have my mom’s manicotti recipe somewhere, but I came across this one to try in the meantime. It’s not as quick and easy as the recipe I grew up eating, but it’s still very good!

Serves: 6-8

Meat Sauce:
1 onion, chopped
6 oz. sliced deli pepperoni, chopped
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 T. tomato paste
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
salt & pepper

Manicotti:
3 c. (24 oz) ricotta cheese
2-1/2 c. (10 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese*
1-1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded provolone cheese*
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh basil
16 no-boil lasagna noodles

*I just used 16 oz. Italian blend cheese instead of these two.

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375F/190C. Heat onion, pepperoni, and beef in a large saucepan over medium heat, breaking up mixture with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
2. Using slotted spoon, transfer 1 cup beef mixture to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve. Add tomato paste, garlic, and pepper flakes to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (At this point, sauce can be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days.)
3. Combine ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup provolone, egg, salt, pepper, basil, and reserved meat mixture in large bowl.
4. Pour 2 quarts boiling water into 9×13″ baking dish. Soak noodles until pliable, about 5 minutes. Drain noodles on kitchen towel. Pour off water and dry baking dish.
5. Spread half of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish. Following photos below, top each soaked noodle with 1/4 cup cheese filling, roll, and arrange, seam-side down, over sauce in baking dish.

6. Spread remaining sauce over manicotti. Cover with foil and bake until bubbling around edges, about 40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and provolone. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Serve.