This is a great comfort food recipe that will impress your family or friends. The great thing with this dish is you can substitute whatever meat you want; you could do it with chicken, beef, turkey or even a seafood combo!
Equipment
2 9 x 13 baking (ovensafe) dishes
Ingredients
18 to 20Jumbo pasta shellscooked to al dente
1teaspoonMSG
1teaspoonKinders Italian seasoning
1teaspoonGarlic powder
1teaspoonOnion powder
1teaspoonBadia Complete seasoning
1/4teaspoonDried oregano
¼teaspoonDried parsley
8ozCottage cheese
15ozRicotta cheese
1Large egg
1/3cupParmesan cheeseshredded
4cupsMozzarella cheeseshredded
2cupsRotisserie chickenshredded
30ouncesAlfredo sauce2 jars or 2 1/2 cups homemade
2TablespoonsDried parsley
Instructions
Cook the pasta shells according to package directions, till al dente.
Put the cooked pasta in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375°. Spray baking pans with nonstick spray.
Prepare the stuffing for the shells by combing 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, egg, and chicken.
Add the seasonings to the stuffing mix and mix well.
Place the stuffing mixture into a piping bag (or Ziploc bag with a hole cut into one of the corners).
Spoon a few spoonful's of Alfredo sauce into the bottom of two 9 x 13 baking dishes and spread evenly.
Fill each shell with the chicken/cheese stuffing and place into the two baking dishes. Top the shells with the remaining Alfredo sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Cover each baking dish with tinfoil. Place into the preheated oven (375°). Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove tinfoil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes to brown the cheese.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
We used manicotti pasta tubes because we wanted to use what we had on hand, but you can use jumbo pasta shells as well. It's great with both.
If you don't want to use Ricotta cheese you can substitute it with cottage cheese of your choice.
Sam's Club and Costco have excellent rotisserie chickens ready that make this recipe so easy, but it can also be done with boneless skinless chicken breasts for a healthy alternative.