Jayson and I love manicotti but it can be quite a bit of work so we worked together to whip up this quicker dish inspired by manicotti but we added chicken to it for protein and served it with a big helping of sautéed green beans and mushrooms.

Ingredients

2 large boneless, skinless chicken beasts

Canola oil

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Ricotta cheese

3 cloves garlic

1 box Large shell noodles

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup flaked Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

2-3 large handfuls fresh spinach

Lots of fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Drizzle canola oil into large pan over medium heat. Add chicken, onion, garlic and 3 tablespoons of fresh basil; stir then cover. Cook until no longer pink throughout pieces of chicken. Add spinach to pan with chicken and sauté until spinach shrivels. Transfer to bowl.

2. While chicken is cooking, boil water in Dutch oven pot over high heat with drizzle of canola oil and salt. Add shell noodles and cook until al dente. Remove noodles one by one with slotted spoon and transfer to double layered clean dish towel to dry.

3. In a small saucepan, add oil and remaining onion. Sauté until soft. Add crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, 1-2 tablespoons fresh basil and salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until bubbling. Remove from heat.

4. Spray 9″x13″ glass baking dish with cooking oil. Pour a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce onto bottom of dish and spread until evenly covered. Spoon chicken/spinach mixture into shell noodles then spoon small amount of ricotta on top and line face-up in baking dish side by side. When all noodles are filled, spoon tomato sauce onto all noodles evenly. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan on top then sprinkle dried parsley.

5. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes, until fully heated throughout and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!