Baked Manicotti with Meat Sauce

This one takes a while to make, but so worth it! From Cook's Country

Meat Sauce
1 onion, chopped
6 ounces sliced deli pepperoni
1 pound 85 percent ground beef
1 T tomato paste
5 garlic cloves minced or crushed
2 cans crushed tomatoes - 28 oz cans
salt and pepper

Manicotti
3 cups ricotta cheese - you can sub 1/2 of it for cottage cheese
2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese - shredded
1 1/2 cups provolone cheese - shredded
1 egg - beaten
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
16 no boil lasagna noodles - Barilla brand comes with 16 per package

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse onion and pepperoni in food processor until coarsely ground. Add beef and pulse until combined.

Transfer beef mixture to large saucepan and cook over medium heat, breaking up mixture with wooden sppon until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper towel-lined plate and reserve. Add tomato paste and garlic to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (At this point, you can refrigerate sauce for up to 3 days if you want to make it ahead)

Combine ricotta, 2 cups mozarella, 1 cup provolone, egg, salt, pepper, basil and reserved meat mixture in large bowl. Pour 2 quarts boiling water into 13 x 9 dish. Soak noodles until soft, about 5 minutes. Put the noodles into the water, do not pour the water over a pan of noodles or they will stick together. Drain noodles on a kitchen towel. Discard water and dry dish.

Spread 1/2 of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish. Top each noodle with 1/4 cup cheese filling. Roll and arrange, seam side down over sauce in baking dish. Spread remaining sauce over manicotti. Cover iwth foil and bake until bubbling around edges, about 40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and provolone. Bake until cheese is melted, 5 or 10 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes and serve.