(Reprinted with permission from ‘Frozen Assets: How to
Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month’ by Deborah Taylor-Hough)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 cups cooked turkey meat, chopped or shredded
2 cups ricotta cheese
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups tomato sauce, or 2 jars (15-oz.) spaghetti sauce
16 manicotti shells, cooked until just barely softened
Instructions
In large skillet, brown turkey in butter for 2 – 4 minutes.
Mix turkey with ricotta cheese. Add pepper, Parmesan,
green onions, parsley, rosemary and egg; mix well. Cover
bottom of baking pans with one cup tomato sauce. **Stuff
manicotti shells with turkey mixture; place in baking pan(s)
and cover with remaining sauce. Cover baking pan(s) with
foil; label and freeze.
To Serve:
Thaw. Sprinkle 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese over manicotti.
Baked uncovered at 350 F for 35 minutes, or until bubbly
and hot in the center.
**I’ve found that cooling the manicotti shells completely
before stuffing them (just run the cooked noodles under
cold water in a colander), makes the stuffing process
much easier than attempting to stuff hot noodles. I’ve
also discovered that a long handled infant feeding spoon
(with a tiny bowl) works perfectly for stuffing manicotti
shells.
