Super Easy Manicotti!

First of all, I forgot to take a picture of this when I made it so the picture is of the leftovers the next day so it may not look quite as good as it did the day before but it was still delicious!  I love Italian food and I absolutely love manicotti but it can be such a pain to try to stuff floppy noodles with spoonful after spoonful of cheese.  Well, not anymore!  Here is a much simpler way to do it where you pipe the cheese into the uncooked pasta and it still comes out perfect.  It's simply tasty!

Super Easy Manicotti

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup finely chopped spinach (fresh or frozen) - optional
1 package uncooked manicotti tubes
1 jar traditional style spaghetti sauce
1-1/2 cups water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. 
2.  Combine all four cheeses, eggs, salt, pepper, garlic, and spinach in a large bowl.  Mix well. 
3.  Pour mixture into a gallon-sized baggie and snip off one corner.  Squeeze cheese mixture into the uncooked manicotti tubes, filling each completely, and place in the 9x13 pan.
4.  Pour the whole jar of spaghetti sauce over the top and then pour the water on top of that.
5.  Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Take the foil off, sprinkle with additional mozzarella cheese if desired, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

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