Family Chow Hall

Easy Manicotti

August 29th, 2006

Seriously. Manicotti can be made simply and easily. I love manicotti (eating it, anyway) but for years I never made it at home and would only get it if we went out for Italian. That happens about once every two or three years, so I wasn’t getting much manicotti.

A year or so ago, however, I opened my new issue of Taste of Home magazine and found an easy recipe for manicotti. I had to try it immediately, and guess what?! It worked! No more trying to stuff a gooey cheese mixture into slippery tubes of cooked pasta. Hooray! Instead, you make crepes, place the cheese filling in the center of each, and roll them up, just like enchiladas.

So, I MUST give credit to the wonderful people at Taste of Home for publishing the original recipe. I - of course - have adjusted the recipe to suit my own taste and cooking preferences.

The directions are a little lengthy, but it’s really not hard to make. With my daughter helping (she made most of the crepes while I mixed the cheeses and sauce) it took us about 30 minutes to put this together.

Homemade Manicotti
makes about 10 tubes

Crepes:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. milk
3 eggs
1/2 t. salt

Filling:
1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. shredded mozzerella cheese
1/4 c. shredded parmesan or romano cheese
1 egg
1/2 t. basil
dash of salt

Sauce:
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
OR
1 batch of my spaghetti sauce

First, ya gotta make the crepes. This is not nearly as hard as I once believed. Whisk all of the crepe ingredients in a large bowl. This will look like thin pancake batter - You may have to add a little bit of milk to get the right consistency. Heat a small skillet (5 inch) over medium heat. If it’s a non-stick skillet, you probably don’t need any oil. Spray it with a little cooking spray. Now, pour about 1/4 to 1/3 c. of the batter into the skillet and let it spread by tipping the pan in different directions. Let the crepe cook until you can see that it’s completely dry. Don’t flip it or let it brown. If it browns, turn the heat down. Stack your crepes with wax paper between them.

Next, mix the filling ingredients all together, and get ready to fill the crepes with this mixture.

Pour half of the sauce into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Put a little filling on each crepe and roll them up. Place seam side down into the pan. When you’re done with that, pour the rest of the sauce on top and sprinkle some extra mozzerella or romano cheese over it all.

Finally, heat your oven to 350. Cover your manicotti with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then take the foil off and bake 20 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Entry Filed under: Casseroles, Italian, Recipes, Supper, meatless