Venison sausage manicotti

This recipe originally called for ground beef, but venison sausage, cooked, then crumbled or sliced thinly, works well. I added extra liquid to make up for the leaner qualities of venison. Ingredients 2 tbsp of vegetable oil ½ lb of venison sausage ½ cup of finely chopped onion ¼ cup of finely chopped green pepper 14-ounce can of tomato sauce 1 cup of beef or chicken stock 1 tbsp of sugar 1 tsp of salt 1 ½ tsp of Italian seasoning ¼ tsp of pepper 2 cups of ricotta or cottage cheese 1 cup of grated mozzarella 8 cooked manicotti shells Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350˚ F. 2. In a large pot, heat oil and add sausage. Once cooked, crumble or slice the sausage. 3. Stir in onion and green pepper. Cook until the onion is transparent. 4. Blend in tomato sauce, stock, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the meat is tender. 5. Meanwhile, mix together the cheeses and fill manicotti shells with them. 6. Arrange shells in a 9- by 13-inch (23- by 33-centimetre) baking dish. Cover shells with the prepared sauce. 7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until heated thoroughly. If you wish, top with more grated mozzarella for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Makes 4 servings. Originally published in the Ontario OUT of DOORS Deer digital exclusive For more cooking, click here Click here for more outdoors news Watch on-demand videos anytime on OFAH Stream