Manicotti, an overlooked pasta dish

Instead of the sugar-laden Halloween recipe I thought of sharing, I decided to help slow your sugar rush by introducing a frequently overlooked pasta dish.

Aside from the obvious comfort food factor, manicotti cooks quickly, tastes great and looks beautiful, making it a go-to dish for impressing someone when you're in a hurry. Boyfriends, take note.

Manicotti:

• *Prepare the manicotti pasta as the directions state. Time it carefully: if you overcook the shells now, you won't be able to stuff them later.
• *While the pasta cooks, mix a cup of cottage cheese with half a cup of Italian flavored breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Note that using cottage cheese is only a substitute for the good stuff-ricotta cheese-which people don't normally keep in the fridge.
• *Add mozzarella cheese and diced fresh parsley if you have it.
• *Strain the pasta and rinse with cold water immediately to prevent breaking the shells. Spread the pasta out on foil so it doesn't stick to itself.
• *Let the shells cool and kill some time. Consider making the vegetable dish below.
• *Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While it warms up, carefully stuff the manicotti with the cheese mixture. Using your hands is probably the best strategy, but if you hate getting messy, use a Ziploc bag. Fill it with the mixture and cut off a corner, making the hole large enough for the cottage cheese.
• *Lightly coat the bottom of a casserole dish with olive oil or cooking spray and place the manicotti in it. Pour pasta sauce over the top and polish it off with any leftover mozzarella and parsley.
• *Place the pan in the oven five minutes. The dish can cook longer, but watch closely to ensure the shells don't harden.

Vegetable dish:

• *Chop a carrot and a zucchini or squash. Boil them until they're tender. You may want to add the carrots first: they take longer to cook. Strain them.
• *Sauté a teaspoon of chopped garlic in a little olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots and zucchini to the pan. Watch for the zucchini skin to turn a golden brown.
• *Remove from the heat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve with manicotti.