Preheat oven to 350°

Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with non stick spray, set aside.

In a large frying pan, add ground beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic . Cook until meat mixture is browned and cooked thoroughly.

Drain grease and return to pan.

Sprinkle oregano, basil, salt and pepper over meat mixture, stir.

Pour tomato sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes and water into pan, stir. Cover and let simmer on low for 30 minutes.

While meat mixture is simmering, cook pasta al dente (cooked but still firm). Drain, rinse with cool water and set aside (I laid the pasta on a baking sheet until ready to fill).

Once meat mixture has finished simmering, pour into a large mixing bowl and let cool a bit.

Take some of the meat mixture and spoon into the bottom of the baking dish prior to adding the manicotti, just enough to cover the bottom of pan.

When meat mixture has cooled off a just a bit, add ricotta cheese and stir until mixed well.

Next, sprinkle parmesan cheese over meat, stir and then add ½ the grated mozzarella cheese into meat mixture. Stir until the cheese is melted and is well incorporated.

Gently spoon mixture into each manicotti and place into baking dish.

Continue stuffing the manicotti until your baking dish is full (I doubled layered the manicotti so I only had to use 1 baking dish. You can have a single layer but will need 2 baking dishes).

Once you have the first layer placed in dish, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese before starting the next layer.

When all the manicotti pasta has been stuffed and placed in the baking dish, top with remaining mozzarella cheese, cover with foil, and cook for 60 minutes (45 minutes for single layer).

Remove foil and cook for 5-10 more minutes and then remove from oven and enjoy!