Spinach Cheese Manicotti (meatless)

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola or olive)
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded,divided (4 ounces)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated,divided
• 1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 8 manicotti, cooked and drained acording to package directions
• 1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Recipe

• 1 in a small skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil for about 3 minutes, set aside.
• 2 in a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, just 1/2 cup of the mozarella, all of the cream cheese, just 4 tbsp of the parmesan,the italian seasoning, and the pepper until smooth.
• 3 add the onion mixture to the cheese mixture, along with the spinach (along with a dash to taste of both freshly grated nutmeg and some cinnamon).
• 4 fill the cooked manicotti noodles either with a spoon or by piping the mixture (using a decorating bag or a ziptop bag with one end snipped off).
• 5 pour half of the sauce into the bottom of a greased 9x13" casserole.
• 6 place filled manicotti in the pan on top of the sauce, then pour the remaining sauce over the top.
• 7 cover an bake at 350 f 25 minutes.
• 8 remove the cover, sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes more to melt cheese.