Italian Sausage & Four Cheese Manicotti

The first time I ever made manicotti, I swore I’d never do it again. I came home at seven thirty after a very long twelve-hour shift, picked up my girls from my mother-in-law’s, and then spent the next TWO hours stuffing shells and making a colossal mess of my entire kitchen as I went. I vowed that if I ever made them again—which I doubted I would—I would never wait until seven thirty p.m. with two starving kids under the age of six waiting with pleading eyes for dinner. But as important, I’d have to figure out a new way to stuff shells, one that didn’t require me to make a faux-pastry bag from a resealable baggie. Those never work well for me, though I don’t know why!

Oh, and I also realized I should have had an open bottle of wine on standby. Wine makes every dreadful task a little bit more fun.

I’ve fine-tuned a manicotti recipe to make it more doable. It will take you exactly one hour to prep and stuff fourteen manicottis, and that includes making the marinara on the spot! I know this because I’m a dork and literally timed myself. That said, this is definitely a multitasking recipe, so don’t make it if you’re in a rush. Once you pull off stuffing the shells and sprinkle them with Parmesan, it only takes another thirty minutes in the oven to make this amazing cheesy-sausage-stuffed masterpiece. Totally worth it all. I promise!

SERVES 6 TO 8 • TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

Olive oil

14 manicotti shells (8 ounces)

Fine sea salt

3 hot Italian sausages (about 12 ounces), casings removed

2 cups Classic Marinara

10 fresh basil leaves, rolled and thinly sliced

2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

2½ ounces (or ½ cup) sharp provolone cheese (diced into ½-inch cubes)

2½ ounces (or ½ cup) Fontina cheese (diced into ½-inch cubes)

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with 1 tablespoon of sea salt and add the pasta. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes less than the package directions indicate, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, grease a baking sheet with ½ teaspoon of olive oil. Use tongs to transfer the shells from the water to the baking sheet. Let cool until they are safe to handle.
• Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, crumble the sausage and cook over medium heat until browned, about 20 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a paper towel–lined plate, leaving a little of the rendered fat in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to low, pour in the marinara, add the fresh basil, and heat until just warm. Pour ¾ cup of the sauce into the bottom of the greased baking dish.
• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, ¼ cup of the grated Parmesan, the provolone, Fontina, parsley, and browned sausage. Use a teaspoon to stuff each of the shells. Arrange the stuffed shells in the prepared pan, cover with 1¼ cups of the marinara, and sprinkle with the remaining 6 tablespoons of grated Parmesan.
• Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until browned and bubbling. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

MAKE IT A MEAL

Because this dish is more involved, I always serve it with a simple green salad and garlic toast.