What is "manicotti"

manicotti \manicotti\ n. Tubular large noodles that are usually stuffed with mild cheese and baked in tomato sauce; -- a type of Italian pasta; also a dish of such noodles thus prepared.

n. Wide tubes of pasta filled with a savoury stuffing and baked in the oven.

n. large pasta tubes stuffed with chopped meat or mild cheese and baked in tomato sauce

Manicotti (the plural form of the Italian word manicotto, meaning "muff," or, literally, "little sleeve" or "little shirtsleeve") is an Italian American kind of pasta. They are very large pasta tubes, usually ridged, that are intended to be stuffed and baked. The filling is generally ricotta cheese mixed with cooked chopped spinach, and possibly ground meat such as veal. They are subsequently topped with besciamella, usually made with Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce or some combination of these.

Similar to the Italian cannelloni, manicotti can be extruded in tube form, or rolled from sheets of dough.

One variant of the manicotti recipe uses a crêpe instead of pasta tubes to contain the filling, which is similarly covered in sauce and baked.