Easy Home made Manicotti

So I love manicotti but stuffing all those pasta tubes takes time and they ripe and its just a mess.  This one is much simpler because you roll lasagna noodles like you would with Enchiladas.  If fact that's what I told my husband when he asked me what manicotti was.  Italian Enchiladas.

Doesn't that look good.  (I forgot to take a pic with it on a plate.
Here is what you need for the sauce.  1 medium yellow onion, 2 cans crushed tomatoes, 1 T of tomatoes paste, 1 package of pepperoni, 1/2 lb ground sausage, 1/2 lb ground beef, 4-5 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, a few red pepper flakes, and Italain seasoning to taste.
The manicotti: Ricotta cheese (you can use cottage cheese if you like but this is better) 2 cups shredded whole milk manicotti, a couple cups of shredded provalone (my store didnt have bricks of it so I boughed sliced and diced it) 1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (it is wonderful) 1 egg, 1 package of no boil lasagna noodles, and salt and pepper to taste.

Sauce:

Quarter onion.  Place pepperoni and onion pulse in food possessor until finely diced. My food prossessor is very loud Chris makes jokes about needing ear plugs. 

If you have a standard sized food processor you can prossess the ground sausage and beef too to break it up but mine is a smaller one because it uses the same base as my blender so as a result it is slightly smaller.

Add mixture from the food possessor to a hot large skillet (add ground meat too if you didn't) process.  Brown and break it up as you go into small pieces.

Mix in the tomatoes paste, pressed garlic, and a few red pepper flakes.

Save 1 cup of the meat mixture if you want for sprinkling on the top. 

Add the cans of crushed tomatoes and let simmer for a few min to slightly thicken and season to taste with salt and pepper and Italain seasoning.  Be sure to cover while simmer because it till splatter and then you will have to clean your stove like I did.

Filling: 
Soak noodles for 5 min in boiling water so they will be soft enough to roll.
Chop the basil, shred/dice cheese (depending on your provolone)

 Place 1 pint of ricotta, basil, 2 cups of mozzarella, and 2 cups of provolone, and the egg in a bowl and mix until thoroughly incorporated.

Its going to be a big goopy mess but it will taste so good.

Now comes the Enchilada part.  Spread about a cup or two of the sauce on the bottom of the pan so the noodles don't stick.

Place a spoonful/handful of the filling and roll up like an Enchilada.  I found it was easier to use my hands.  A standard package of lasagna noodles comes with 16.  So you should end up with two rows of 8 in a 9x13 pan.  I had a couple that broke but its okay I used them anyway.  I a had a little of the filling left over so I spread it over the top.  You can never have too much of a good thing.

Spread the sauce on the top. Sprinkle about a cup of mozzarella and a cup of provolone and the remaining meat on top.  I paced slices of provolone and shredded mozzarella since that was easier. Bake covered for about 40 min at 375.  About 10-15 min before its done remove cover so the cheese can get golden.  Remove from the over and let rest for about 10 min.  This is important so its not too runny.  It will still be running but more manageable.