Italian Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Manicotti

We had friends coming for dinner and I needed to use up the turkey Italian sausage and mushrooms I had in the refrigerator so I decided to make manicotti. I found some marinara in the freezer so this meal turned out to be pretty easy to make. It was hearty, delicious and a big hit with everyone, kids included. This will be on our dinner table again and again.

Turkey Italian Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Manicotti:

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

• 1 tsp olive oil
• Turkey Italian sausage links, casings removed
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 8 oz button mushrooms, chopped
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 15 oz Ricotta cheese (I used part skim)
• Dash of fresh nutmeg, grated
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (divided)
• 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese (divided)
• Manicotti shells, cooked per instructions
• 3 cups of marinara sauce (divided)
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (divided)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray then pour 1 cup of marinara and coat entire baking dish.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the turkey sausage removed from casing. Cook for 1-2 minutes, crumbling the sausage with a spatula. Add the onions and mushrooms then continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Once the meat is cooked through and crumbled and the onions are tender, add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Cook the manicotti noodles per instructions and set aside to cool. In a large bowl add the cooled meat mixture, ricotta cheese, grated nutmeg, parsley, basil, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, then mix thoroughly. Place the mixture into a large zip lock bag and cut a hole in the corner of the bag. Pipe filling into each manicotti shell (I pipe a bit into each side) then place into the baking dish. Continue process until you are out of filling and shells. Pour the remaining marinara sauce on top of the manicotti then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Cover the baking dish with a piece of tin foil and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 7-10 minutes. Top with chopped basil and serve. Enjoy.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - For the Love of Cooking.net