The Briny Lemon: Chicken and Mushroom Manicotti

Italian-style chicken sausage is made with many of the same herbs and spices as pork sausage, but, of course, it’s leaner. Here, it provides savory flavor to the manicotti, along with earthy mushrooms and two creamy cheeses.

You can use store-bought ricotta cheese, but making your own is easy and simple. For a recipe, check out Veal Manicotti with Fresh Ricotta.

Serves 6

Ingredients

12 manicotti shells
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb mild Italian chicken sausage (casings removed, if in links)
6 oz button or crimini mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 2/3 cups fresh tomato sauce (or canned crushed tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups fresh ricotta cheese (or from a 15-oz container)
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Manicotti Ingredients

Fresh Ricotta Cheese

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Cook the manicotti shells in a large pot of boiling, salted water 7-8 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the sausage, mushrooms, garlic, and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up the sausage, until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, 10-12 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool 10 minutes.

Sausage Mixture Beginning to Cook

Cooked Sausage Mixture

Place the sausage mixture in a medium bowl. Add 1/3 cup of the tomato sauce, the ricotta cheese, and parsley. Stir well to combine.
Spread another 1/3 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 13 X 9-inch baking dish. Stuff each manicotti shell with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sausage-ricotta mixture and place side-by-side in the dish.
Spread the remaining tomato sauce of top of the shells and scatter the mozzarella cheese on top.