Manicotti, I see your face in every flower

This has been my favorite song since I was hmmmm 14? 15? something like that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPJuFxl0bxY
It was the song me and the mister danced to at our wedding. I'm listening to her stuff right now and this song made me choke up.
What a sap.
ANYWAY

A strange yet, somewhat personal fact - I don't really like melted cheese. No cheese fondue, nacho sauce or really any kind of cheese sauce. I think it may be the smell but then again it may be just because it's disgusting. As a kid, pizza was always deconstructed* into it's respective bits and only then all was eaten. Bread w/ sauce, then if the cheese had sufficiently hardened I'd eat that or if not, I'd eat some of toppings...

That being said, here's a recipe for easy manicotti (why is manioc in the spellcheck but not manicotti?)

makes about 6

Ingredients
8 manicotti shells
2 cups tomato sauce (of your making or choosing, I choose because I'm lazy)
1/2 lb ground sausage (may be omitted but it's just so good)
1/2 shredded cheeses (I used blend of parmesean, asiago and mozzerella
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella (used to top stuffed noodles)
1 cup ricotta or marscapone cheese (I use half a small tub of ricotta about 8 oz)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/4 tsp salt
dash cayenne** (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350F
1. Boil pasta shells according to the directions (should be slightly undercooked for this dish) I used Barilla manicotti shells and boiled them for 7 minutes (Did 2 of your shells split? I always lose 2 out of 8...)
2. GENTLY rinse noodles with cold water and set aside to cool
3. brown sausage (break into small crumbles)and garlic on stovetop, drain any accumulated fat
4. make filling - mix ricotta, sausage & garlic, pepper, salt and 1/2 cup mixed shredded cheese
5. Put 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on bottom of small baking pan (I used 8x8, 2" deep non-stick pan)
6. stuff cheese mix into noodles as best you can without splitting them (using a pastry bag makes this very easy)and place stuffed noodles on top of sauce
7. Pour remaining tomato sauce over all of the stuffed manicotti
8. top with mozzerella
9. Bake at 350F for about 35 mins
10. have at it... but do not burn your mouth portal on the melted cow lactate***

NOTE: if you switch the manicotti forms for giant shells or even lasagne it pretty much works the same and it's easier to stuff shells or layer lasagne


* but ONLY when at home, Nuns wouldn't stand for that business
** I really do put this shit in everything
***WECOMEFROMFRANCE