CLASSICO would also like to offer five VIP coupons for free jars of Classico sauce to give away to to my readers within the USA today! They also encourage you to submit their own “Classico Creations” recipe. I will select the winners randomly and have CLASSICO mail you the coupons to use on any of their fantastic sauces.
Ingredients:
Sauce: 
1 (1-2lb) American variety eggplant diced very fine1 (2oz) can of anchovy fillets in olive oil
2 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion diced
2-3 cloves of garlic grated
1lb of lean ground meat (I used ground chicken)
1 jar CLASSICO pasta sauce
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
red chili flakes to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
1tsp brown sugar
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Spinach and Ricotta filling:14-16oz frozen spinach
2 cups of Ricotta cheese(low fat cottage cheese can be substituted)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 egg
1/8 of a teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg
salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
For the Spinach Ricotta Filling:
In a frying pan heat up the spinach to defrost. Once heated add granulated garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn stove off and allow mixture to cool. Then add ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and egg. Mix until well combined.For the Sauce:
Heat 2 Tbs of olive oil on medium-high heat in large pan and add the
anchovy fillets plus the oil from the can. Put a lid on it so the
anchovies don't splatter everywhere. Once the anchovies melt (this
happens pretty quickly) add the chopped eggplant.
Cook
eggplant for 7-8 minutes until it becomes tender and almost half it's
volume. Turn stove off and tilt the pan so the oil drains away from the
eggplant. Remove eggplant from pan until later. Heat stove again and
use the drained oil to fry the onion and grated garlic for 1 minute.
Then
add the lean ground meat and brown. Add the dried oregano, basil, red
chili flakes, sugar, black pepper some salt (remember the anchovies will add
salt to the dish as well). Once the meat is browned and seasoned well,
add the cooked eggplant back to the pan.
Next add the jar of CLASSICO. Turn
stove to medium and allow sauce to cook for 15-20 minutes. Taste for
seasoning and turn stove off. Cook manicotti pasta per package instructions (shy by one minute) in well salted water. Assembly:
In an oven safe baking dish, fill 1/2 of the sauce on the bottom of pan. Then fill the cooked manicotti with the spinach and ricotta mixture and place over the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce and top with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until brown and bubbly on top and serve hot. Enjoy.
Disclosure: I received a sample jar of CLASSICO Creamy Spinach and Parmesan courtesy of CLASSICO . I was not compensated in any way for writing this post. The opinions stated in this post are my own. Thank you.
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