Chicken Manicotti

This is my mother's recipe and I totally love it. It's even some thing that my picky little penguins will usually eat. I always make my own sauce for it (I'm neurotic like that), but canned sauce works just as well and makes the recipe much easier.


1 c cooked chopped chicken
15 oz ricotta cheese
3/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 - 3/4 c mozzarella cheese, grated
1/8 c chopped fresh parsley
1 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp basil
1/8 - 1/4 tsp pepper
marinara sauce
1 package manicotti shells


Boil manicotti shells according to package's instructions, until al dente. While these are cooking combine all other ingredients (except sauce) in a bowl. Drain shells and rinse with cold water to cool and prevent sticking. Stuff shells with chicken mixture. Place in 9x11 pan, cover with sauce and top with more grated mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot through.

You can also use fresh spinach if you wilt it first. To do this you rinse your spinach, put it in a non-stick pan and cook it over medium heat until it looks like thawed frozen spinach. It takes about five minutes (or that's how long it took me tonight), but if you have fresh spinach on hand, or if you like it better anyway, it's not that hard.



I made this tonight thinking my little penguins would both eat it (unlike most of the meals I've made lately), but they both surprised me and refused it. Well, my daughter ate some but only when I fed her and could get my son to actually sit at the table instead of telling me he didn't like it and didn't want to eat it. Instead they both ate strawberries, snow peas and the croutons out of the Caesar salad for dinner.