Manicotti

I took my mom's original recipe and bumped it up with the addition of grated zucchini. It made a nice a addition to the filling. I know everyone will tell you to parboil the shells before baking. I never do for a couple of reasons. First I find that the shells too difficult to fill and they rip easily when pre-cooked. I also discovered that the manicotti comes out over cooked when pre-cooked. By adding a little extra water to the sauce the manicotti comes out perfectly al-dente every time.

Serves 6

12 uncooked manicotti shells
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 medium zucchini, grated
2 large cloves of garlic, finely grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup water
fresh mozarella, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 400. Spray an oblong baking dish with cooking spray. Pour 1/2 cup sauce and the water into the bottom of the baking dish. In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta, zucchini, garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Line a tall glass with a large zip lock bag. Scoop the filling into the zip lock bag(the glass holds the bag open for you to make scooping easier). Zip the bag shut, squeezing out as much air as possible. Snip off on corner off the bottom of the bag. Holding the manicotti shell in your free hand, squeeze some of the filling into both ends of the shell. Snuggle the filled shells up against each other in the baking dish. Cover the shells with the remaining sauce. Lay slices of mozarella over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 50-55 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the broil up to high and brown the top for about 3-5 minutes. Serve