Spend some time in the kitchen with the whole family and put together this delicate yet comforting Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Cheese Manicotti recipe. The kids will have a blast stuffing the shells (although if they are anything like mine, prepare for some mess)!
Cooking As a Family: You Can Do It!
It's no secret that we love cooking as a family around here. It doesn't happen as often as we would like, because hey, life get's busy and Daddy works a lot! But when we do we make something together we make something a little bit more involved than usual, and then we sit down and enjoy it as a family.
It makes for really lovely quality time outside of the usual movie and pizza night. I bet you will be surprised at how freely the conversation and laughter flows once everyone lets loose.
For us, it all started on the first New Year's Day my husband and I spent together a million years ago. We decided to make wonton soup from scratch - including the dumplings and the dumpling wrappers.
That was a big undertaking for someone like me, who had never even tried wonton soup before 😛 but it started an enduring tradition that we really cherish.
And one that we will try to keep going for as long as possible.
For the most part I like to make my own tomato sauce from scratch, and I usually have a couple batches of this Tomato Sauce in the freezer ready and waiting. BUT if you can find a good quality jar of tomato sauce, and you are more likely to get into the kitchen and cooking as a family if you can skip that step, then you go for it!
How Do I Get The Kids Involved?
My kids love helping in the kitchen, and with this spinach and cheese manicotti recipe I get them to help by:
- mixing all the ingredients together for the stuffing,
- using a small spoon to stuff the shells,
- arranging the stuffed shells in the pan,
- pouring over the tomato sauce at the very end.
Now that my daughter is big enough to hold a whole glass jar, bless her cotton socks, her favorite part is the big pour. She worked on those 'muscles' for a long time to gain the honor 🙂
Do you like cooking as a family? I have lots of great recipes that you can make together! Check out my Marinated Goat's Cheese Log, Vegetarian Sausage Rolls, and my 6 Ingredient Teriyaki Salmon Bowl.
Happy Eating xx
Spinach Mushroom and Ricotta Cheese Manicotti
Ingredients
- 1 box Manicotti shells
- 1 Jar Ragu Homestyle Sauce (or homemade)
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups baby portobello mushrooms, chopped (4 cups chopped, not whole)
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 ½ cups fresh ricotta cheese
- 1 cup pecorino cheese, grated and divided into two
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. If you are using fresh pasta, it does not need to be pre-cooked
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic, but has not browned. Add in the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned
- Add in the baby spinach and cook until wilted. This should only take a minute or two.
- Mix the ricotta with the chopped parsley and thyme. Once the mushrooms are browned add them to the ricotta mixture, along with half of the pecorino. Season with salt and pepper and stir well to combine
- Stuff the manicotti tubes with the mushroom and ricotta mixture (see notes for a tip)
- In the same skillet you used for cooking the mushrooms, add half of the Ragu Homestyle Sauce.
- Arrange the manicotti on top of the sauce, and then top that with the remaining sauce and the rest of the pecorino.
- Cover with aluminium foil and pop into the oven for 30 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy
H says
Have you ever frozen this?
Donna says
I haven't, but it should be fine if you keep it in an airtight container and freeze.
H says
Thanks! My friend is about to go out on paternity leave and I wanted to provide them some scrumptious frozen meals. I know how wonderful this recipe is and thought it would be perfect for a winter sleep deprived meal. ☺️
Abra says
This brings me back, my Mom used to make manicotti and I haven't had it in years. Can't wait to try it!
Donna1 says
Oh I love when recipes bring back happy memories 🙂
Teri says
This looks perfect for my family! Love the preparation.
Donna1 says
Oh thanks Teri 🙂 It always adds an element of fun bringing the kids into the kitchen to help with dinner (if not a lot more mess!!)
Jodie Morgan says
What a great weeknight dinner! I love the mushroom addition. 🙂
Donna1 says
Thanks Jodie! The mushroom definitely adds a great cheap and delightful filler to the mixture, and it's a good way to 'trick' the kids into eating them 🙂 Although mine knew they were in there and still didn't mine, so thats a bonus!
Chava Mazal Stark says
This looks decadent and delicious. I'm going to have to try this recipe out!
Donna1 says
Hope you love it!!
Rachelle @ Beer Girl Cooks says
I just LOVE some cheesy stuffed pasta! This manicotti looks delicious with those mushrooms!
Donna1 says
Thanks Rachelle!! Cheese and mushrooms...cant go wrong hey 🙂
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
The dish look delicious. Ive not come across manicotti before so watched the video ,they look like ribbed cannaloni tubes.
Donna1 says
They are pretty much the same thing! When I lived in Australia I could only ever find cannelloni, but now in the US I can only find manicotti - basically both pasta tubes that can be stuffed 🙂
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
I love anything with ricotta!!! I have made manicotti in forever and I had no idea you could do it in a skillet! Genius!
Donna1 says
Thanks Liz! Yes definitely try it in the skillet next time - less mess is always better right 🙂
Sarah says
This is a gorgeous recipe! I love manicotti!
Donna1 says
Oh thank you so much Sarah! We love it too, so comforting and so fun to make 🙂