Italian Meatballs and Stuffed Manicotti Noodles

I don't even remember where I got this recipe. I think I was looking around online for something different last year, and saw meatballs, and then added my own touches. They turned out really good. The spaghetti sauce is my grandpa's recipe, and I love cheese, so I stuffed them in the noodles. :)

What You Will Need

Meatballs

2 1/2 lbs hamburger

1 1/2 cups Italian Bread Crumbs

1 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)

1 cup of Ragu Traditional Sauce

Tablespoon Garlic Powder

Dash of Basil Seasoning

Dash of Oregano Seasoning

Spaghetti Sauce

1 large can of tomato sauce

1 small can of chicken and rice soup

1 onion

1 green pepper

dash of garlic powder

1/2 pound hamburger

Two boxes of Manicotti Noodles

Two blocks of Colby Cheese

What You Do

For your meatballs, get out a large Tupperware bowl. Combine everything together from the top list for meatballs. Use your hands and mix it all together thoroughly. Preheat your oven to 375, get out a baking pan, line it with aluminum foil. Shape your meatballs and place on pan. (I make mine huge - like the size of softballs)

Put it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until hamburger is cooked through. Once you take them out, immediately spoon some spaghetti sauce on top of them. 

For your Spaghetti Sauce

Cut up your onion and green pepper, and cook it with your hamburger. Drain. In the same pot, add your tomato sauce, chicken and rice, and ragu. Dump hamburger back in, let it simmer for 30 minutes (while your meatballs are cooking)

Cook your Manicotti noodles until they are firm. Not hard, not over-cooked and soggy. Firm. Drain water, let them cool for a minute.

While they are cooling go ahead and cut up your blocks of colby jack cheese. I cut them so that I can fit two pieces inside of the noddles. So however many noodles you have made, multiply by two, and that's how many cuts of cheese you need. 

Get out your casserole dish, take the cheese and stuff it into your noodles, and line the bottom of the dish with them. If you need too, you can layer noodles on top of each other. 

Take your sauce and cover the noddles, place them in the oven (beside your meatballs, or after your meatballs are done cooking), and bake for 20 minutes on 375. 

Remove from oven, plate noodles and meatballs, and enjoy!