I tried putting the cheese mixture in a baggie and cutting off a corner and squeezing the filling into the shells. However, still managed to make a mess. So... next time slit the shells (after cooked, cooled) all the way down the side filled, and placed cut side down. Yea it worked cheese sealed the shells and nobody was the wiser

The 10 year old I nanny for picked this to make for our weekly cooking lesson. We tried the baggie method too, but it ended up popping. No need to cut the shells though we just stuffed them with our fingers!

I used a baby spoon to stuff my shells, and it worked perfectly!

I use a long handled teaspoon... used for iced tea, Me and my daughter stuff them together so it doesn't take as long.

Love this recipe - but as mentioned spoons do not work! I used the baggie. Make sure the whole is really small so it can fit inside the Manicotti without splitting it. Also when you cook the noodles only cook them for 6 or 7 minutes. This way they aren't too soft and stay formed even when stuffed.

The baggie idea worked... Just cut a small hole and use Ziploc, leave it open a hair... Had to add an egg to thicken it up.

I did take Jackie's (South Dakota) advice and slit the noodles down the side, filled them then placed them slit side down. I also put the mixture in a Ziplock baggie to fill as that is how I do my deviled eggs as well. SO MUCH EASIER than spoon filling. They turned out great. I am one who likes to mix it up a little so I sauteed mushrooms and onion and mixed in some cooked ground sausage w/ my cheese mixture. MMMMM So Yummy!

The baggie method worked for us. Use a Large storage bag to put the manicotti filling in. The slice on the end must be small, otherwise too much filling will be dispensed. It worked wonderfully! We had no mess.

Tried the bag several years ago... Waste of time. Just get messy and stuff it with your fingers. That is the best way.. Good recipe!

We just tried it, and I did the baggie method, it works extremely well, although I did have to add a touch of milk to make it more of a pasty texture. Otherwise your bag will pop. This is an amazing recipe!! I will be making it again soon :)

I made this recipe tonight and used a Bertolli four cheese rosa (pink) sauce. Although everything worked ok, I actually had to double the filling because the 8 oz. box of manicotti had 16 shells in it and I ran out of filling on the 8th one. I used my Pampered Chef easy accent decorator to fill the shells, and it was so much easier than a spoon.

I liked this recipe as well. I did also add an egg but when it came to filing I used my mini cookie scoop. It worked great, it only took 5 to 8 minutes to pop them in the oven after filing. Thanks for the recipe it was good.

Don't par-boil your noodles.. and try using a Pampered Chef Cookie Press to fill the noodles.. Works great :)

Great recipe! To fill the shells I've found using a small cream cheese spreader worked great. I pit some on the spreader, put it in the shell and then pushed the shell down onto the spreader while simultaneously pulling it out. Hardly messy at all and didn't lose all the cheese to the counter!

Manicotti is one of my favs! this is a small batch recipe, so add 1 egg. HINT, HINT -- don't cook the pasta!! Take right out of the box, still hard. Makes stuffing way easy, just use fingers. If you completely cover the pasta with you sauce, it cooks just PERFECTLY in the oven.

I did not need anything to fill the noodles I just used my fingers. Also when the noodles cook they slit sometimes so I just split the semi split ones all the way and stuffed those.

I love this recipe. It's so easy and very tasty. I also love all of the suggestions using Pampered Chef products. I'm a consultant and I use the easy accent decorator as well. It works very well.

My 3 yr old and i just made this for our number one lady. She loves this recipe. We used the baggy trick and it worked perfectly. Cant wait to do it again

I am pregnant and craving ricotta cheese. In the hopes of not eating a plain container of it, I started searching recipes. This sounds perfect and I thrilled to read all the positive reviews. Can't wait to eat them!

Good recipe and I added the egg as well. Here is the easiest way by far to fill the shells: Do not cook the shells. Hold one shell upright with one open end down and push it down into the cheese mixture. Do this over and over until the the cheese gets to the top end of the shell. Scrape off any excess at the bottom and put into the pan. You will have your shells filled in no time! The last one you may need to scrape up what is left in the bowl and fill it with a spoon but it sure beats filling them all this way. Save some of the mozarella to sprinkle on top when there is about 10 min left of baking time.

Exactly how to do it. The manicotti noodles will cook in the sauce.

Any manicotti is so much better if you make your own shells! Crepe style, than you don't have to worry how you stuff them!

Good basic recipe to grow and expand on. I started with a 24 oz. container of ricotta and it was barely enough so I recommend larger than 15 oz. I also added a little sugar and garlic powder to my filling and it turns out great. As for stuffing the shells, I found a combination of fork and fingers worked just fine. It also seemed the more room temperature the filling got the harder it was I handle with utensils, at that temp piping it in with a bag would be easier. I think next time after I mix it up I will probably refrigerate it before stuffing the shells if I plan on using a fork or fingers. Yum!

Don't cook the shells ahead of time, just add some water with the sauce. The manicotti are much easier to fill straight out of the box.

I just made this tonight but haven't had a chance to try it yet. I used a jerky gun to fill the noodles and it worked great. Wife and kids loved it.