Turkey and spinach manicotti

This is the concoction I whipped up last week to share with the family of a neighbor who is recuperating. The recipe made enough for two casseroles; one to keep and one to give away. I didn’t work from an existing recipe; I had ground turkey, spinach and mozzarella cheese on hand. With the addition of pasta, some cottage cheese and the manicotti noodles, I came up with a pretty impressive casserole.

Turkey and spinach manicotti

1 pound ground turkey
2 cups fresh spinach
16 ounce container cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup for each casserole)
16 ounce jar prepared Alfredo sauce
2 teaspoons parsley
Salt and pepper (about a ½ teaspoon of each)
14-16 manicotti noodles (7-8 per casserole)

Brown the turkey in a large skillet; drain any excess fat. Mix in the fresh spinach, tearing the leaves and folding them into the meat. The heat from the skillet will wilt the leaves. Stir in the cottage cheese, parsley and salt and pepper. I soaked the manicotti noodles in warm water for about 5 minutes; they were slightly softened, but still firm enough to fill easily. Hold your thumb over one opening and fill the noodles with a small spoon.

Pour about ¼ cup Alfredo sauce each into two 9X9 casserole dishes. Lay the filled manicotti noodles over the sauce and scoop around any extra filling to fill in the gaps. Top the noodles with ¼ cup Alfredo sauce and ½ cup (each casserole) mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with extra parsley to garnish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, until casserole is bubbling and browned on top. Serves 3-4.

The casseroles can be covered with foil and refrigerated for up to three days or frozen for up to three months. To cook from frozen, thaw the casserole in the refrigerator for about 24 hours before baking. Taking a little time to whip us a casserole and freeze it is a great way to always have an emergency dinner on hand.

I only soaked the manicotti noodles to soften them because they will finish cooking while the casserole bakes. Cooking them ahead of time will yield overcooked pasta at the end.