Last night's dinner: Stuffed manicotti (or, in my case, "Jumbo" pasta shells). This is Joy Philbin's recipe, passed down to her from her Italian grandmother. The original called for 1 lb. ricotta, but I substituted an equal amount of cream cheese instead, as I don't care for ricotta's grainy texture. Joy also mentioned she "likes to serve this with sweet Italian sausage", so I took that to mean she combines it with the marinara sauce. This was delicious. Wonderfully warm, aromatic, and comforting on a cold night, a great way to bring your favorite local Italian joint into your home kitchen. Will be making this again and again! Stuffed Manicotti For the Filling: 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, plus more for the top 1 lb. cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup grated romano 2 eggs 1 t. dried mint leaves 1 t. sugar 1 t. nutmeg Half of a 10 oz. bag chopped frozen spinach, thawed For the Manicotti: A dozen manicotti shells, or a box of other large shell or tube pasta 1 package ground sweet Italian sausage 1 jar Rao’s or Simply Homemade marinara sauce Boil the manicotti in generously-salted water (it should taste like seawater). Cook them in two batches to prevent them from sticking together. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a cookie sheet to drain and cool. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9X13 dish. To make the filling, combine the cheeses, eggs, mint, sugar, and nutmeg in a bowl. Fold in the spinach and set aside. Using a spoon, carefully stuff the shells with the spinach mixture and place them in your prepared dish. Crumble the sausage meat evenly over the manicotti and pour over the jar of marinara sauce. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with shredded mozzarella, and bake for an additional ten minutes. Let rest for 15-20 minutes before serving. #FeedingCreatively #ItalianCooking #JoyPhilbinRecipes #StuffedPastaDishes #ColdWeatherComfortFood #ItalianRestaurantAtHome https://www.instagram.com/p/CH08S78Hi_A/?igshid=if8tkf0qgvc8