Perfectly Simple Pasta!

If you are like me then you enjoy the idea of taking a great looking dish you see on a menu or magazine and try to recreate it in your immensely smaller kitchen.  My arch enemy in the culinary world is the onion.  As ridiculous as it sounds, I cant stand them! By recreating my own dishes I am able to make it taste just as good, but without the onions that I loathe so much.  This recipe that I have created is quick, easy, fun, and tastes amazing.  This recipe is for 12-14 noodles.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• First I boil a big pot of water with a tsp. of salt.
• Once the water comes to the boil I place in the manicotti noodles (tubular).

While the noodles are cooking I prepare the filling.

Filling:
1 package of thawed frozen spinach
1 carton of ricotta cheese
1.5 cups of "italiano" blend cheese
.5 cups of fresh mozzarella
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
pinch of salt and pepper

• Once the noodles have cooked for 8 minutes I gently lift them out of the water (they rip easily) and transfer them to a paper towel covered plate.
• Gently stuff the noodles with the filling (I just use my hands - but it gets pretty messy!!)
• Layer a glass caserole dish with a generous layer of pasta sauce (If you dont have time to make your own, I prefer Prego original or country mushroom)
• Put the noodles into the dish side by side and smother all of them on top with sauce.
• Toss some more italiano cheese on top and pop it in the oven for 45 mins at 350 degrees or until cheese is melted and golden.

The noodles swell up and are very filling! This dish is delicious and perfect for a cozy dinner served with a nice Cabernet and some garlic toast.

Bon Apetit!!