Sausage-Stuffed Manicotti

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Melanie J. Clarke
Family Dinners. "I developed this recipe many years ago. Since then, I've lightened it with turkey sausage, and I use smaller amounts of flavorful cheeses, where a little goes a long way. Like most baked pastas, this dish requires some time, but it's well worth the effort." Beverly O'Ferrall, Linkwood, Md.
Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed manicotti)
Ingredients
- 10 uncooked manicotti
- Cooking spray
- 1 pound sweet turkey Italian sausage
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fat-free milk
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Newman's Own)
- 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Preparation
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion and bell pepper to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Return pan to heat; bring to a boil. Cook 6 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; stir in black pepper. Add 1/2 cup milk mixture to sausage mixture; stir well.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Spoon about 1/3 cup sausage mixture into each manicotti; arrange manicotti in a single layer in a 13 x 9inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella over manicotti; spread remaining milk mixture evenly over mozzarella. Top milk mixture with pasta sauce, spreading to cover. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until bubbly.
Nutritional Information
- Calories:
- 292
- Fat:
- 11.5g (sat 4.9g,mono 3.5g,poly 1.8g)
- Protein:
- 19.6g
- Carbohydrate:
- 25.8g
- Fiber:
- 1.4g
- Cholesterol:
- 57mg
- Iron:
- 1.8mg
- Sodium:
- 719mg
- Calcium:
- 193mg
Member Ratings and Reviews
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I substituted jumbo shells for the manicotti and a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil for the sauce. We quite enjoyed the dish, and will make it again. I generally don't care for turkey sausage, but it was unobtrusive and tasty in this.02/09/10
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Made this last night with some green beans on the side. It turned out deliciously even though I omitted pouring the remaining milk roux over the stuffed manicotti. I'm surprised they didn't dry out. I remember thinking what a waste it was to use 2 cups of milk to make the sauce and then only use 1/2 a cup of sauce. I'll know in the future to do it correctly. I remember when I took it out of the oven I thought we should call and invite some friends over because it looked so good. Next time we will.02/01/10




