Spinach and Cheese Manicotti

Nothing says comfort food to me but pasta...I don't care what type of pasta they all scream comfort food. When I was little my favorite dinner was always my mom's spaghetti and garlic bread. Unfortunately I was allergic to tomatoes but that didn't stop this kid from eating "sketti and bread. Thankfully I outgrew my allergies..yay me! So anyways, tonight was a quiet night in my house that meant I could cook a meal that took a bit of time to make and enjoy the effort of cooking.

Our recipe comes from recipegirl.com

 http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/02/21/spinach-and-cheese-stuffed-manicotti/

Now thankfully all the ingredients are an easy find as you can see...now I choose to use fresh spinach and added a bit of cottage cheese just to add a bit more umph to the manicotti.

 

 

Because I have RA it's a lot easier for me to use my kitchen aid stand mixer and the paddle to mix the cheese, spinach, and other ingredients into a smooth mixture. And than I used a gallon ziplock bag to pipe in the cheese/spinach mixture into the manicotti noodles. If you haven't ever tried using a ziplock bag to pipe a mixture it's super easy, just put whatever batter you're using in a ziplock bag and snip the tip and go to town. And the best part is easy clean!

 

 

I poured half a jar of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of my baking vessel and then I took the left over spinach/cheese mixture and piped around the noodles, just so I didn't waste the fabulous mixture. Than topped the noodles with the rest of the sauce and covered it with lots of cheese!! I love cheese!
Did I mention I love cheese...but white cheese only! Yes I weird...than I baked this fabulous dish for 50 mins and out came a gooey hot delicious dinner...

My guys loved it..we added fresh baked rolls from the local grocery store and it was a meal that no person in their right mind could turn down! I added a bit of fresh parsley for touch of green. There are 3 of us in the house right now and there was NO leftovers...my guys ate the entire pan minus the 2 pieces I was able to take out for myself. So yes this recipe was a hit!