Treat your family to the ultimate Italian comfort food with this easy manicotti recipe — jumbo tubes of pasta stuffed with an herb ricotta filling. To maximize flavor, I include a quick homemade marinara sauce that adds a rustic tomato taste to each serving.

A big casserole dish of manicotti can feed a hungry family and still have plenty of leftovers for the week. It’s also a cinch to prepare in advance so you can bake when ready for a no-hassle weeknight meal. This recipe is Italian-husband approved, and I think Jason’s grandma Rose would even say mangia!

In my years of testing, my scientific mind broke down the recipe into three parts: noodles, filling, sauce. Seems simple, yet each component needs careful preparation. It all starts with simmering the tomato sauce, which gives the flavor plenty of time to concentrate. I cook the pasta to al dente to ensure the pieces don’t break and then pipe in the creamy filling.

What is manicotti?