Sausage and Mushroom Manicotti

One of the benefits of having a well stocked, fridge, freezer, and pantry is that creating a meal even when time is of the essence is fairly easy. I know, I do feature quite a lot of recipes from cookbooks, magazines and other blogs and find extreme satisfaction if they turn out just like the pictures that accompanies them. However, I also take great pleasure that comes along with the freedom of just "winging" it in the kitchen. Sometimes, these kind of meals make the best dinners. My husband (who is a fantastic cook) loves to cook this way. Unfortunately, many times he cooks something so delicious that he is never able to recreate it a second time, since he never takes notes.

So in order to avoid this, many times I enlist one of my kids to keep me company in the kitchen and take notes of what I'm adding to a recipe. This is how this dish came about. I was tired after our visitors left, fast food was out of the question, but no one wanted to run to the store. After inspecting what my storage had to offer, this is the recipe I created and it happened to produce a wonderful Sunday dinner.

I started the recipe by browning the sweet Italian sausage along with onion, chopped mushrooms and a small amount of salt. After the sausage is cooked and the vegetables are soft, I set the mixture aside to cool. During the cooling time I went ahead and made my basic all-purpose tomato sauce and cooked the pasta. The sauce comes together quickly and I use this recipe as my base for pretty much anything that calls for an Italian inspired marinara sauce. After the meat mixture had cooled, I combined it with some ricotta cheese, eggs, Italian seasonings, parsley and Parmesan. I piped*  the cheese/meat mixture into my cooked Manicotti and placed them in a 9 x 13 pan that had a bit of the tomato sauce spread across the bottom of the dish. When all the pasta is filled and layered into the pan, the rest of the marinara sauce gets poured over the top and finally a generous sprinkling of mozzarella and more Parmesan finish off the dish before baking it for about 1 hour.

I served the Manicotti along side a Caprese Salad and everyone loved it. The kids asked for seconds, and between the five of us the dish pretty much got depleted. I will definitely make this again, there are so many great options of how to make the filling unique by using different vegetables or meats. Certainly a keeper and I hope if you try my version you will enjoy it as well!

* To pipe the filling into the cooked pasta, add the filling to a large gallon size Ziploc bag. Snip off one corner and pipe away. The Manicotti will be filled perfect in no time without the mess!

Sausage and Mushroom Manicotti 
(Susi's Kochen und Backen Original)

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

3 Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage Links, casing removed
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
12 oz. button mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/3 cup loosely packed Parmesan cheese, shredded
Susi's All-Purpose Tomato Sauce (recipe to follow)
8 oz. Manicotti Pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Fresh Basil chiffonade for garnish, (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown Italian sausage in a large pan. Add the onions, mushrooms and salt and saute until soft about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

While the mixture cools, prepare tomato sauce. Cook Manicotti according to package directions; drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.

Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, salt, basil, oregano and parsley. Add the meat/mushroom mixture and the Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.

Spread 1 cup tomato sauce over bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Fill Manicotti with the ricotta mixture; place in dish. Pour remaining sauce evenly over filled shells; sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover; continue baking another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.


Susi's All-Purpose Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon ketchup

Preparation:

Add all the ingredients to a sauce pan and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a simmer and let cook for at least 30 minutes.