My Lime Green Kitchen

Archive for the ‘Main Dish’ Category

Beef Stuffed Manicotti

1 – 8 oz. package Ricotta cheese
1 – 8 oz. package Mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (we like basil a lot — you may want to use less if you’re not a huge basil fan)
fresh parsley, chopped (however much you want)
fresh ground black pepper (I use about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. salt
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used leftover sauce from our spaghetti on Sunday)
12 manicotti shells
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef and drain. Save out about 3/4 c. of the ground beef. Crumble that portion very fine. I usually mash it with a fork.

Cook manicotti in salted boiling water til tender.

In a large bowl, mix Ricotta, 1/2 c. Parmesan, Mozzarella, 2 eggs, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Add in the 3/4 c. crumbled ground beef.

Mix the remaining ground beef with the spaghetti sauce. Spread into the bottom of a baking dish, reserving just a little to spoon over the manicotti.

Stuff the manicotti shells with the cheese mixture. Place in the backing dish on top of the spaghetti/meat sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce over the manicotti.

Cover and bake at 350 for 35 – 40 minutes. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

We’ve had this dish often and we love it.

Since my meatballs are mostly frozen ahead of time, I start out by browning spicy Italian sausage. Then I either make the sauce or pour in the jars of sauce that I’ve already canned. If making fresh sauce, I let it simmer most of a day. If using canned sauce, I’ll add a jar of tomatoes since I put the sauce up in concentrated form. Once the sauce is reay, I put in the frozen meatballs and simmer very slowly for an hour or more.

And here’s a post about how I freeze the meatballs.

I don’t measure anything for meatballs but next time I make them, I’ll try to pay more attention to measurements. The proportions of everything can be adjusted to suit your own tastes. Basically, here’s what I do:

Start with bread crumbs. I make my own using whatever bread we have. Sourdough makes great breadcrumbs and around here, we can get it as day old bread at Wal-Mart. Any dense bread will do. Put it through the food processor to make crumbs. Pour milk over it and stir while the crumbs absorb the milk. You want the crumbs to be . . not pasty thick and no runny . . kinda in between. Got that?

Add the bread crumb mixture to:

5 – 6 pounds ground beef (can substitute ground pork or turkey for some of the ground beef)
1 onion grated
chopped garlic – I use the chopped garlic you buy in a big plastic container and I use probably 4 tablespoons
Salt – maybe 2 tsp.
Black pepper – maybe 1 tsp.
2 or 3 eggs
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
ground dried oregano — maybe 1/4 cup
basil – if using fresh, maybe 1/4 c. chopped. If using dried, maybe 2 tablespoons
Fennel seeds – maybe 1 or 2 tablespoons

Shape into balls and fry.

Spaghetti Sauce

Garden Fresh Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I use the already chopped garlic in the big plastic jars from Sam’s)
12 fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes (I used 3 quart jars of home canned tomatoes)
3 zucchini, sliced (I chopped mine pretty fine so Chad wouldn’t see them in there)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (chopped fine to disguise also)
4 carrots, shredded
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
1/3 c. fresh basil, chopped
1 c. dry red wine (I used Shiraz because it was handy)

Remove casings from the Italian sausage (if yours has casings). Chop into chunks and brown. Drain any excess grease but leave a couple of teaspoons. Add the onions, green pepper, garlic and saute til the onions are clear.

Add the tomatoes, wine, sugar, salt, parsley, basil. Simmer for about an hour.

Add the shredded carrots, zucchini and mushrooms. At this point, I added meatballs that were already browned. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.

Serve over spaghetti noodles with salad and crusty bread.