Spotlight Series: All About Manicotti

Known as cannelloni in Italy, manicotti is a large tube pasta that’s commonly used to make a classic baked dish. The pasta shells are stuffed with a cheese or meat filling and topped with sauce before baking until bubbly. The finished dish, an Italian-American specialty that rivals lasagna in its sheer comfort, is also known as manicotti.

Shop DeLallo Manicotti:

What Is Manicotti?

Much like lasagna, manicotti is the name of a large, tube-shaped pasta as well as the baked dish it is used to make. It’s an Italian-American pasta, often ridged on the sides and diagonal cut, almost like giant penne. The Italian ancestor, cannelloni, is essentially the same pasta but often has smooth sides and straight edges. Both are stuffed pasta with fillings like various cheeses, ground beef, and vegetables and topped with sauce before serving.

The Origin Of Manicotti And And Its Brief History

References to stuffed pasta have been found going back to the 1700s, but it is believed that cannelloni wasn’t mentioned by name until the early 1900s. Manicotti has been around for nearly as long, and is essentially the same thing as cannelloni but with an Italian-American name. In fact, manicotti/cannelloni might be more popular in non-Italian countries like the U.S. than in its home country. The pasta shares its name with a popular dish of stuffed manicotti topped with sauce and baked.

How Is Manicotti Made And What Is It Made Of?

Manicotti can be made by hand or by machine. Homemade manicotti is made the same way as handmade cannelloni—a dough is made of semolina flour and water before being rolled out into thin sheets. The sheets are cut, filled, and then rolled around the filling to form cylinders.

Most manicotti is manufactured. A similar dough is made and then loaded into an extruder with a die in the shape of a large tube. The dough is extruded and cut to form large tubes before being dried. It’s then packaged and sold in stores.

How To Stuff Manicotti

Manicotti should be cooked until al dente before filling to ensure it is properly cooked before serving. After draining the pasta really well, the filling can be added via the hole on either end. The best way to stuff manicotti is using a piping bag; the filling can be piped in quickly and easily. You don’t need special equipment to stuff manicotti, though! You can simply spoon filling into both sides until the pasta is stuffed.

How To Cook Manicotti

To cook manicotti, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Season generously with salt, then add the manicotti. Give a quick stir and boil until al dente, around 7 to 8 minutes. Once the pasta is cooked, immediately drain. We recommend spreading the drained pasta out on a clean kitchen towel to ensure it is thoroughly dry and to help prevent the manicotti from sticking to each other. Stuff and serve as soon as possible.

Note that it is especially important to not overcook manicotti, but rather aim for true al dente—tender but with a definite chew in the center. This will help prevent the pasta from overcooking when it heats in the oven.

The Best Manicotti Shells - The DeLallo Difference

DeLallo manicotti comes from the town where pasta was born, a region near Naples, at the beginning of the Amalfi Coast. The art of making our pasta begins with the very best quality wheat. We carefully choose wheat with the highest gluten index, gluten content and protein content. All of these characteristics affect how the pasta cooks, as well as its taste and texture. The durum wheat is milled into coarse ground semolina flour and then carefully kneaded with cold, fresh, mineral-rich mountain spring water. We dry our pasta slowly at low temperatures to reproduce the traditional way of making pasta. This method respects the ingredients, preserving the pasta’s color, texture and aroma.

Manicotti Recipes And Usage Ideas

Stuffed manicotti is the most popular way to serve the pasta. The tube-shaped pasta is made for stuffing, whether it’s a cheese, chicken, vegetables, meat, or even seafood filling. A sauce or two are added and then the dish is typically baked before serving. Ricotta is a popular filling choice, and is often paired with spinach to make spinach manicotti. Stuffed manicotti is delicious and pure comfort food.

The Best Sauces For Manicotti

A popular sauce choice for manicotti is a simple marinara, which pairs nicely with the pasta’s filling without distracting too much. Other sauces like a creamy bechamel, ragu, or even pesto can be used, or sometimes a couple of sauces will be layered before baking.

Manicotti Substitutes

Nothing quite has the same look and feel as manicotti—although, if you see pasta labeled cannelloni, grab it! For a similar experience, reach for lasagna or jumbo shells. Lasagna noodles can be cooked and cut into shorter lengths, then wrapped around the filling. Cooked jumbo shells can be filled much like manicotti. Both pastas are good for topping with sauce and baking, much like manicotti.

DeLallo Manicotti: FAQ

What Does Manicotti Mean In Italian?

The Italian word manicotti translates to “a big sleeve” in English. The name refers to the pasta’s shape, which resembles large tubes.

Is Manicotti Italian Or Italian American?

Manicotti, the pasta and the dish it’s named after, are an Italian-American invention. However, the pasta is based on cannelloni, a nearly identical Italian pasta.

What Do Italians Eat With Manicotti?

Instead of manicotti, Italians tend to eat a very similar pasta called cannelloni. It is served in a similar manner as manicotti, stuffed with fillings like fresh cheese or meat, and topped with sauce.

Do I Cover Manicotti When Baking?

Since the pasta and any raw ingredients in the filling are already cooked when making manicotti, it is often baked uncovered. The bake time is just for heating the filling, pasta, and sauce up before serving. The dish is shallower than lasagna, so it takes less time to heat up and generally doesn’t need to be covered.

Do I Have To Cook The Manicotti Before Stuffing It?

Manicotti must be boiled before being stuffed. This is for a couple of reasons: first, if the raw pasta is already stuffed when it’s added to a pot of boiling water, all of the filling would run out and be lost in the pasta water. Second, if the uncooked, stuffed manicotti is added directly to the oven, it would require water to be added to the sauce and a much longer bake time to cook through. During this process, the filling would become watered down and the pasta would likely cook very unevenly.

Manicotti Vs Stuffed Shells - What Is The Difference?

Manicotti and stuffed shells share a common lineage. They are both large format pastas that are stuffed with a filling, often cheese and/or meat, and topped with sauce. Both are typically baked before serving as well. The biggest difference is the pasta shape. Manicotti is a long, tube-shaped pasta, while jumbo shells have a curled shape like a conch shell. Both pastas are a good choice for stuffing with fillings.

Manicotti Vs Cannelloni - What Is The Difference

Manicotti and cannelloni are essentially the same pasta. Both are shaped like long, wide tubes, perfect for stuffing with fillings. The shape is called manicotti in the U.S. and cannelloni in Italy. Manicotti is often cut at a diagonal, like penne, and can have ridges. Cannelloni is often straight cut with smooth sides.

Manicotti Vs Lasagna - What Is The Difference?

Manicotti and lasagna are types of pasta that have one big thing in common: they both have dishes named after them. Manicotti, a large hollow pasta, is often stuffed, topped with sauce, and baked to make the Italian-American dish manicotti. Lasagna noodles are long and flat, sometimes with curly edges. They are often layered with ingredients like cheese, bechamel and/or tomato sauce, and other fillings before being baked into the dish lasagna.

Manicotti Vs Ziti - What Is The Difference?

Manicotti and ziti are both pasta shapes. Their biggest difference lies in their size. Both hollow pastas that are sometimes cut at a diagonal, manicotti is several times bigger than ziti. Manicotti is large enough to stuff with various fillings, and the pasta itself tends to be a bit thinner. Ziti is smaller, perfect for tossing with sauce and spearing with a fork.

Manicotti Vs Ravioli - What Is The Difference?

Manicotti and ravioli are very different pastas, but they do have one key thing in common: they both tend to have fillings. Manicotti is a large hollow pasta that is stuffed with a filling after cooking. Ravioli is made up of thin sheets of pasta that are joined together around a filling before being cooked and tossed with sauce. Ravioli tend to be much smaller than manicotti, although their exact size can vary.

Where To Buy DeLallo Manicotti?

Order DeLallo manicotti online or find it at most major supermarkets across the country.