I was looking for a new recipe and happened to stumble upon For the Love of Cooking and Pam's Turkey Italian Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Manicotti. As I've mentioned before, I love me some Italian food so I'm always happy for great new recipes to add to my collection.
Really, can you go wrong with ricotta cheese, fresh basil, homemade tomato sauce and some noodles? Pretty much, that's a no. Plus, I love the addition of freshly grated nutmeg and parsley because it adds a great depth of flavor to the homemade sausage stuffed manicotti.
As delicious as homemade manicotti is, I've never been very good at the stuffing part. Even with perfectly al dente shells, I still seem to butcher it. *sad face* I used a Ziploc bag and cut the corner for these little guys, which worked pretty well. Still, I may or may not have gotten stuffing all over my hands, the plate and some on the table.
And, yes, it was totally worth it!
Mushroom and Italian Sausage Stuffed Manicotti
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 links Italian sausage casings removed
- ½ sweet yellow onion diced
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 15 oz Ricotta cheese
- Dash of fresh nutmeg grated
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 5-6 fresh basil leaves julienned, divided
- 4 tablespoon Parmesan cheese divided
- 1 box Manicotti shells cooked al dente
- 3 cups of tomato sauce try my homemade tomato sauce
- 1 ½ cup mozzarella cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Coat a large baking dish with olive oil and pour 1 cup of marinara to coat entire baking dish.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the sausage. Cook for 4-5 minutes, crumbling the sausage with a spatula.
- Add the onions and mushrooms then continue to cook for 5-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Once the meat is cooked through, crumbled and well-browned and the onions are tender, add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Cook the manicotti noodles per instructions and set aside to cool. Make sure to leave noodles al dente as they will cook more in the oven and will be easier to stuff if more firm.
- In a large bowl, add the cooled meat mixture, ricotta cheese, grated nutmeg, parsley, basil, ¼ cup mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly. Place the mixture into a large Ziploc bag and cut a hole in the corner of the bag. Pipe the filling into each manicotti shell (I pipe a bit into each side) then place into the baking dish. Continue process until you are out of filling and shells. Pour the remaining marinara sauce on top of the manicotti then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with a piece of tin foil and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 7-10 minutes.Top with julienned basil and serve.
Dustin
Love manicotti
diana
Can I use ground beef instead of the sausages?
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Diana! I've never tried it with ground beef, but yes you should be just fine to use it instead of the sausage. Please share how it turns out if you do 🙂
Eddie
Just finished this recipe but I used ground lamb and goat cheese with plenty of garlic and herbs will eat in about an hour. It tasted good as I put it together.
Sandy Stricklin
This is the first time I have ever put anything on line. I tried your recipe tonight and just realized that I forgot the oregano. Despite the omission the flavor was fantastic. In fact I'm thinking it wasn't even needed but might try it with it next time. My kids even ate it and they rarely eat anything I desire. This was everything I have been looking for in an authentic Italian recipe. I am constantly on line trying to find recipes that are realistic and great tasting but rarely find that. This is great and I will make it again and again. I am so grateful for tripping upon your website. Thank you and I will be looking for other recipes that will be as great as this was.
frank alioto
what a great recipe..i look forward to others you may have..thanks
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Thanks, Frank.
Mindy
Quick question, on the ingredients list you say tomato sauce, but in the directions you call it marinara, a specific kind of tomato-based sauce. Should the sauce be marinara? Thanks!
lisa
Hi my husband doesn't like cheese but i love cheese is there anything else i can use other then Ricotta cheese i dont like ricotta even though im italian .. ty
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Lisa! Good question. Might you be willing to try goat cheese, queso fresco, cottage cheese or silken tofu? If so, I'd love to know how it turns out.
Sarah
My boyfriend and I used to love a local Italian restaurant that closed recently, and I've been looking for a good manicotti recipe to feed him ever since. I think I'd like to give this a try, but how much sausage would you recommend using?
lacey - a sweet pea chef
So sorry I haven't posted the amount of italian sausage I would use. Somehow that skipped by without me noticing. I would recommend using the amount of about 2-3 sausage links. Thanks for the heads up...I will make a change in the recipe soon!
Beth
I made this the other night and it was absolutely one of the best recipes I have come across. I fed my 25 year old son, his two friends plus my boyfriend and they all raved about it. Thank you!!! I can't wait to make it again. I will remember the next time to cook not overcook the noodles (some fell apart). LOVED THIS!!! My son even asked for the recipe!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Yay, Beth!! How awesome that you all loved it so much. Thanks for sharing!!
Steph@PlainChicken
I love manicotti. I recently made it with crepes instead of the tube noodles - it was heavenly!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hey Steph! Hmm...stuffed crepes sound delicious! I may have to get that recipe from you! 🙂
Joanne
For some reason, I find manicotti super intimidating. Not sure why.
The good thing about getting stuffing all over is that it means you can lick it up! Not that I do things like that...
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Joanne, I used to be pretty intimidated by manicotti too. It' pretty simple, just (possibly) messy. The trick is to keep the noodles as al dente as possible so they don't collapse and fall apart when you're stuffing them. And, yes, it is a bonus to get it all over your hands!
Betty @ scrambled hen fruit
This looks very tasty! I always make a mess when I try to stuff shells too- a Ziploc works about as well as any other method I've tried. One day this heat will break and I'll feel like eating something other than salads and tomato sandwiches. I'm saving this for then! Thanks.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hey Betty! Sorry to hear you're in a heat wave. I agree the Ziploc technique seems to be the best way so far. Nothing wrong with salads and tomato sandwiches, though! 🙂