Stuffed Manicotti with Fresh Tomatoes

I decided this morning that today was as good a day as any to reorganize our cabinets. I like to collect glass jars to use for storage, rather using than plastic containers that seep BPAs and chemical flavors into foods. It’s also a good way to reuse perfectly good glass jars and keep them from becoming the stuff of landfills. So, I went though and put any unsealed items into jars. It looks pretty spiffy now actually (see pic). Thought I’d share my eco-friendly frugal tip as nod to good ol’ Earth Day.

While I was reorganizing the cabinets, I came across a box of manicotti shells that I had apparently forgotten. There had originally been 14 shells in the box and there were 5 left. Not sure why I would have used only 9 at one point, but these things happen. This recipe calls for 5 manicotti shells, but you can always double or triple the recipe to stuff more.

Manicotti are great for a main dish, or for an opener served one by one. Rather than making sauce, I like to up the freshness factor by simply dicing tomatoes, tossing them with olive oil, salt and oregano, and covering the manicotti. The tomatoes cook in the oven with the manicotti and everyone’s happy.

Stuffed Manicotti with Fresh Tomatoes – makes 5 manicotti

5 manicotti shells
2 C chopped tomato
1 T oregano
2 T olive oil
1 C ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 t salt

Boil the shells 6 minutes. Drain and cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine tomatoes, oregano, olive oil and salt to taste.

In another bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, half of the Parmesan and salt. Spoon this mixture into a pastry bag or a plastic zip-top bag with a corner snipped.

Stuff the shells with the ricotta mixture by pressing it through the bag.

Arrange the shells in a shallow baking dish. Top with tomato mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese and bake 10 minutes more.

Ingredient origins: Manicotti – Italy, tomatoes – Maine; oregano – Unknown; olive oil – Italy; ricotta – Wisconsin; eggs – New Hampshire; Parmesan Cheese – Italy; sea salt – Italy