Reviewed: Dec. 15, 2008

Awesome recipe! I wanted to this to freeze for later (expecting a baby in a few weeks!), so I used one pound of ground beef and one pound of ground mild italian sausage. Great combination! Regarding the spinach, I steamed the spinach and then made sure to drain it before adding to the meat mixture. Also, be careful with the salt if you are doubling-two tablespoons is a lot. It turns out ok, but it didn't need that much for the recipe. Great recipe and would be great for "giving".

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Cookin' Away

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 11, 2008

Fantastic dish! I am almost frightened that we will make this again, as it was a full 2 hours (cleaning the kitchen afterwards included) to get everything done, but it was worth it! The white sauce was a big hit! I couldn't find manicotti, so I used oven ready canelloni. I also used fresh spinach, instead of frozen. Thanks for sharing!

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Gracey

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Heraklion, Crete, Greece

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Reviewed: Nov. 22, 2008

Have fixed this recipe 50+++ times-EXCELLENT!!!! 1 change use italian sausage for ground beef---ENJOY!!!!

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GNFSHN4

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Polo, Illinois, USA

Living In: Rock Falls, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 17, 2008

This was my first try at manicotti and it was very good!

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aginah79

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Reviewed: Nov. 11, 2008

Mmmm this was so good! It's a pretty time consuming meal but worth it. I used cannelloni shells because that's what I had on hand. I think it was easier to stuff these because they're smaller and they were oven ready (no need to par boil). I also used italian sausage rather than beef and added italian seasoning. This was so good!

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LOLONYO

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Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2008

Fantastic and the white sauce is great on its own as well.

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ANGELINA

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Naperville, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 7, 2008

I have made this recipe a few times and it is one of my favorites to make, especially when I have guests coming over. The white sauce definitely is the KILLER in this recipe!! Loved by all!! I did add Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese to the white sauce for extra flavor. This meal is a bit time consuming; I just drink one of the small bottle of wines while cooking. Enjoy!

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Chelle1011

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Reviewed: Nov. 7, 2008

This recipe is fantastic!! I made a few alterations...instead of making the manicotti, I did stuffed shells, not the huge shells, but the medium sized ones. Also, my grocery store didn't have any fresh basil, so instead of buying basil, parsley, parmesan, and garlic, I bought Oliveri pesto sauce, which contained all of these ingredients and saved me a lot of time (and money). I only used about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the pesto sauce, and the flavour of the shells were fanatastic! Thank you so much for this recipe...it was a great hit!!

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007plainjane

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Nov. 5, 2008

OMG! What a great recipe. I doubled the meat as I added 1 lb of sweet Italian sausage but forgot to buy an extra container of ricotta. I ended up putting in a leftover amount of goat cheese. It turned out great! I had WAY too much filling left over (as expected) so I put the meat mixture in a ziplock and threw it in the freezer. I didn't cook the noodles before hand and stuffed the raw shells using a small spoon, it was so much easier. Just make sure you add more sauce to the bottom of the pan and around each manicotti. I baked them covered for about 55 min, then uncovered with the added parm cheese for another 10 min. Let stand for 10 mins as stated. AWESOME!

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Rumshack74

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Oct. 24, 2008

Everyone loved it. Next time I want to try it with half ground beef half italian sausage like others suggested. I think it was good with the white sauce, but I think it would be fine without it too if you don't have the extra time.

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momof3prettygirls

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Lompoc, California, USA

Living In: Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 17, 2008

Very, very tasty. I made a vegetarian version using a 12 oz. bag of vegan meatballs and vegetable broth. I used my homemade red pepper marinara and added some fennel to the filling. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Next time I'll make it using some homemade tempeh sausage crumbles. It is sure to impress.

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Noochie Mama

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Oct. 9, 2008

Excellent, I loved it!

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Minno

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Reviewed: Oct. 6, 2008

Punched up the filling flavor by using half ground beef, half sweet Italian sausage, and by adding about a teaspoon each of dried basil and oregano. It was delicious!

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suzihomemaker

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Hicksville, New York, USA

Living In: Hudson, Massachusetts, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 2, 2008

Wow! This was AMAZING. I used sweet Italian turkey sausage (casings removed) instead of the ground meat and used more (a large handful) fresh basil in the sauce. I put the filling in a plastic bag with the corner cut off to fill the manicotti really fast and easy. It made enough to fill a 13x9 baking dish and I had 5 left over to put in another dish, which I wrapped in plastic and tinfoil to freeze and bake at another time. The instructions on the box of manicotti said to cook it 1.5 hours at 350* from frozen so hopefully it comes out. I can't wait to have this again. It wasn't really as labor-intensive as I thought it would be, but it was well worth the effort.

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asmith212

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Reviewed: Sep. 23, 2008

I thought I had done something wrong , where's the meat ?? The white sauce did nothing for the taste and overall it's somewhat bland .My wife likes anything she doesn't have to cook herself so thought it was ok.

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lou

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Living In: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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Reviewed: Sep. 14, 2008

I've now made this many times and it is a favourite of my kids and husband. I usually use oven ready canneloni tubes instead of manicotti and it tastes amazing.

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bstgirl

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Reviewed: Sep. 8, 2008

Restaurant-quality recipe! I added 2 tsp. each Italian seasonings and basil to the ground beef/spinach/ricotta mixture as well as some coarse black pepper. I couldn't find manicotti at the grocery store, so I just used jumbo shells which turned out great. I took this to a dinner and recieved rave reviews, so will make again.

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RALWATTAR

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Dublin, Ohio, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 7, 2008

Excellent recipie! Time consuming, but fun to make. Makes a lot. Gave some to a couple of friends whose only complaint was that I didn't give them more. I also made this with 1/2 lb of ground beef and 1/2 lb of italian sausage which is a must. Very yummy and will make again.

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ckain26

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Reviewed: Sep. 4, 2008

Not so hot on this recipe. Wife thought it was bland and I have to agree. Sorry

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Jer

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Greensburg, Kansas, USA

Living In: Andover, Kansas, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 2, 2008

This was tasty but not worth the extra effort and time it took to make it. I could have made a lasagna in a third of the time and it would have tasted just as good. So Yum, but not making this one again.

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