Nothing says comfort food quite like homemade four cheese manicotti with its rich, slow-simmered meat sauce and creamy cheese filling. This restaurant-quality Italian dish combines four different cheeses stuffed into tender pasta shells and baked to golden perfection. What makes this recipe truly special is the complex sauce that develops incredible depth of flavor through hours of gentle simmering, enhanced with sherry and vodka for an authentic Italian taste that will have your family asking for seconds.
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Why This Recipe Works
The secret to exceptional manicotti lies in the sauce. By slow-cooking the tomato base with aromatics, wine, and spirits, you develop layers of complex flavor that can’t be rushed. The combination of four different cheeses creates a perfectly balanced filling that’s creamy, tangy, and rich. The addition of sherry and vodka to the sauce adds depth and helps marry all the flavors together.
Table of Contents
Flavorful Sauce Is The Key
What elevates this pasta dish from good to extraordinary is the carefully crafted sauce. This sauce needs to simmer slowly on the stove, allowing the flavors to marry and develop into something truly spectacular. The unique addition of dry sherry and vodka creates a complex flavor profile that you’ll want to recreate again and again.
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- Tomato puree – Forms the smooth base of the sauce with rich tomato flavor
- Crushed tomatoes – Adds texture and intense tomato taste to the sauce
- Tomato paste – Concentrates the tomato flavor and helps thicken the sauce
- Fresh garlic – Provides aromatic depth and authentic Italian flavor
- Yellow onion – Adds sweetness and savory foundation to the sauce
- Italian seasoning blend – Delivers classic herb flavors like basil, oregano, and thyme
- Tabasco sauce – Adds subtle heat and complexity to balance the richness
- Red wine cooking sherry – Contributes depth and helps tenderize the meat
- Vodka – Enhances flavors and adds smoothness to the sauce
- Sea salt – Enhances all flavors and balances the acidity
- Granulated sugar – Reduces tomato acidity and balances flavors
- Ground beef – Provides hearty protein and rich, savory flavor
For the Pasta and Filling:
- Mozzarella cheese – Melts beautifully on top for a golden, bubbly finish
- Manicotti shells – Large pasta tubes perfect for stuffing with cheese mixture
- Ricotta cheese – Creates the creamy, mild base for the cheese filling
- Large egg – Binds the cheese mixture and adds richness
- Parmesan cheese – Adds sharp, nutty flavor and helps bind the filling
- Italian cheese blend – Provides complex flavor with multiple cheese varieties
Step-by-Step Instructions
Preparing the Sauce:
- Start the sauce base. In a large stockpot, combine tomato puree, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Mix thoroughly to create a smooth base.
- Add aromatics and seasonings. Stir in chopped garlic, chopped onion, Italian seasoning, Tabasco sauce, cooking sherry, vodka, and sea salt. Mix until well combined.
- Begin slow cooking. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low heat. Allow to cook for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Taste and adjust. After 1 hour, taste the sauce. Add sugar gradually (start with 2 tablespoons) to reduce acidity and balance flavors. Continue cooking on low heat for several more hours.
- Optimal flavor development. For best results, refrigerate the sauce overnight and cook for an additional 2-3 hours the following day for optimal flavor development.
Preparing the Meat:
- Brown the ground beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, thoroughly cook the ground beef, breaking it apart as it cooks. Cook until no pink remains.
- Drain and season. Drain all grease from the beef (rinse with water if necessary). Return to pan and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Combine with sauce. Add the seasoned ground beef to the simmering sauce and continue cooking together.
Preparing the Pasta and Assembly:
- Cook the manicotti. Cook manicotti shells according to package directions until al dente. Drain and lay separately on wax paper to cool and prevent sticking.
- Make cheese filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, grated Parmesan, and Italian cheese blend. Mix until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Stuff the shells. Using a butter knife or small spoon, carefully stuff each manicotti shell with the cheese mixture until full but not overflowing.
- Layer the dish. Spread a generous layer of meat sauce on the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish, ensuring complete coverage.
- Arrange and top. Place stuffed manicotti shells in a single layer over the sauce. Cover completely with remaining sauce, then sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly on top.
- Bake to perfection. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese bubbles and begins to turn golden brown.
- Rest and serve. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving to help the dish set properly.
Chef’s Notes
The sauce can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated, which actually improves the flavor. When stuffing the manicotti shells, work gently to avoid tearing the pasta. If shells crack, they can still be used as the sauce will hold everything together during baking.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Make-Ahead Assembly: Assemble completely, wrap tightly with foil and plastic wrap, and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months
- Reheating from Refrigerated: Bake covered at 350°F for 45 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes
- Reheating from Frozen: Thaw overnight in refrigerator, then bake covered at 350°F for 1 hour, uncovered for 15 minutes
- Leftover Storage: Refrigerate covered for up to 4 days
Want more Italian-inspired recipes? Check out these can’t-miss recipes
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Four-Cheese Manicotti
Ingredients
- 30 ounces tomato puree
- 15 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounces tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 cup red wine cooking sherry
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 2 teaspoons Sea Salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 standard manicotti cooked per directions on package
- 15 ounces Ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups finely shredded Italian cheese blend
- 2 cups Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In large saucepan or stockpot, mix tomato puree, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Add chopped garlic, chopped onion, Italian seasoning, Tabasco Sauce, cooking sherry, vodka, and sea salt. Mix thoroughly.
- Allow sauce to cook for approximately 1 hour and then taste. If desired, add some or all of the sugar (sugar reduces the “tang” of the tomatoes). Continue cooking sauce on low heat for several more hours (ideally and for a richer blend of the seasonings, sauce should be refrigerated overnight and cooked for an additional 2-3 hours the following day for optimal flavor).
- Thoroughly cook ground beef and drain (rinse with water if necessary to remove all grease). Return to pan and season with a few shakes each of salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove and add meat to the sauce. Cook pasta according to the package directions, drain and allow to cool, separately, on wax paper. In a separate mixing bowl, blend ricotta cheese, egg, grated parmesan, and the shredded Italian cheese blend until thoroughly mixed. Using the butter knife, begin to stuff the manicotti shells with cheese mixture until all is used. In a large baking pan (a lasagna pan is best), spread a layer of sauce that completely covers the bottom of the pan.
- Align the stuffed manicotti shells in the pan atop the sauce. Use remaining sauce to completely cover the pasta. Use as much or as little as desired of the mozzarella shredded cheese to cover. Bake in a 350-degree oven until cheese bubbles and begins to turn a golden brown. Remove, cool, and serve.
a great recipe
Recipe looks yummy! Picture it looks burnt!
I am sorry you feel that way, I love it when the cheese is browned just a bit 😉
It looks perfect. Does not look burnt.
Refrigerate the stuffing for an hour or so.Then roll a handful like a log and insert.Easy peasy!!
Oh that’s a great idea!
Great tip!!!
First time making it and it was delicious. The only thing I did differently is NO SALT and brown sugar instead of white. I will make it again!
I have made this several time for my picky family and they all love it.I can’t wait to try this recipe, but with ricotta instead of cottage cheese.
Sadia, that is a huge vote for confidence for this recipe then!
The salt makes this recipe inedible. My wife made it at first, hesitated at the salt but then added it because the recipe says so. It was so salty, the sauce had to be thrown out. Remade the recipe without the salt, and the sauce was perfect.
An easy hint for filling the Manicotti: put the filling in a gallon zip-loc bag, cut a corner, and squeeze it in. No mess, no fuss, simple to do.
I have used a parchment cake decorating bag and open end tube to fill mine. Works great!!!!
That’s a great idea, I will try that when I make this the next time. I often feel I should use my cake decorating supplies more often.
I once HATED filling shells. Love the result, but not the work. Finally, an Italian friend of mine told me I was going about it the wrong way. His grandmother taught him to cut one side of the manicotti, stuff them, then place them seam side down in the baking pan. No one was ever the wiser. It makes Manicotti MUCH easier!
Can I just say, this is the best tip I have ever had!
I heard about this ‘trick’ years ago, and decided to give it a try. As the manicotti were cooking in the sauce, the seam didn’t stay closed all the way. The cheese seeped out into the sauce, and the dish was completely ruined! The worst part was that I was making it for company. I was devastated & embarrassed, especially since I’m an experienced cook, but this dish made me look as though I was clueless in the kitchen. Sometimes, there’s no easy trick to making a dish. As an Italian cook, I’ve stuffed many a pasta over the years, and I found that ‘piping in’ the cheese mixture into Manicotti works best. BTW, when stuffing shells, I just use a spoon.
I agree. I wouldn’t cut these unless you want an epic fall apart failure when you try to get them out of the pan after cooking.
Actually, they don’t fall apart 😉 I have done this a few times. In cooking the cheese sets up a bit, and it works well.