Slow Cooker Manicotti

January 15, 2013 in Cassie, kid friendly, LIghter Side, Main Dishes, Slow Cooker, Vegetarian

There’s no easy way of taking cooked pasta out of a slow cooker, but I’ll tell you what, the tastes are fantastic.

Did you know that you can make a full pasta meal in your crockpot without even boiling the pasta? You can! I made this in a little over two hours.

What makes this so wonderful is I teach at the gym for a few hours, so all I have to do is put this in the slow cooker, start it, set the timer, walk away and come home to dinner. Hot, ready and delicious.

I’m always trying to find ways to use my slow cooker, especially since we’re at the gym four nights a week and would prefer not eating dinner at 8.

Sometimes it’s as simple as making dinner and using it to keep it warm. Did you know that?

Now you do.

Here’s how to make it!

original recipe

Ingredients

unboiled manicotti tubes
4 cups of pasta sauce
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 tbs olive oil
package of ricotta cheese, 16 oz
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 cups mozzarella cheese, reserved
1 tbs Italian seasonings
Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Directions

In a small skillet, heat the olive oil. Saute the garlic and onion until onion is transparent, soft and fragrant. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, greek yogurt, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, Italian seasonings and the cooked onion and garlic. Mix well.

Grab a large ziplock bag and fill with the cheese mixture. Cut a small corner out to use as piping. Squeeze the mixture into the uncooked manicotti tubes. Pour two cups of pasta sauce into the slow cooker. Line the manicotti inside. Then top with the remaining sauce.

Cook on high for 2-3 hours, until pasta is fork tender. 30 minutes prior to serving, top with the remaining mozzarella.

Top with Parmesan cheese.

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