CHEESE MANICOTTI


Tomato Sauce:*

1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
15 oz. tomato sauce
2 (16 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley


Cheese filling:

2 c. cottage cheese
1 c. ricotta cheese
3 Tbsp. fresh-grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
dash pepper
8 oz. uncooked manicotti noodles
1 c. water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place oil in a large, nonstick skillet or a Dutch oven, and saute garlic. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Stir in oregano and parsley. Bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, for at least 20 minutes, but it can be as long as a couple of hours.

In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients, and stuff uncooked manicotti noodles.

Lightly spray a 9x13x2 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Pour about 2 cups of the sauce evenly over the bottom of the pan. Arrange stuffed manicotti in a single layer over the sauce, placing them side by side. Cover manicotti with the remaining sauce, and pour 1 cup of water over the sauce.

Cover pan with a double layer of aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 50 minutes. Remove foil, and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before serving.


*To save time, you may want to use jarred spaghetti sauce for this recipe. Just make sure that you use 5 cups of sauce.