Mblah's Homemade Manicotti

This is one of my favorite meals to make and it is devoured each time.

Mblah's Homemade Manicotti

Serving size yields 10
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cbb1174672fe.jpg[/atsimg]

I will post the recipes for the pasta, sauce(s) and filling then give the directions at the end on how to put it together.

Pasta Ingredients

5 cups all purpose flour
5 cups water
15 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.Mix flour, water, eggs and salt in bowl til it makes a smooth thin batter (sort of like pancakes or crepes)
2. Next pour about 1/4 of batter onto lightly greased griddle. Cook about a min flipping once. It is a lot like making a pancake just not really a pancake
3. I let them cool by layering them in between wax paper, then I just set them aside.

White sauce ingredients

2 tbs butter
2-1/2 tsp butter
2 tbs all purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp all purpose flour
2 tbs chicken bouillon granules
2-1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2-3/4 cups half and half
2 tbs half and half
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Melt the butter (both amounts) in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Stir in flour (both amounts) and chicken bouillon (both amounts)
3. Increase heat to medium high and cook, stir constantly until it begins to bubble up.
4. Stir in half and half (both amounts) and bring to a boil stirring frequently, cook for 1 min and stir constantly for the entire minute.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh parsley

Marinara Sauce Ingredients

2-1/2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1-1/4 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1/4 cup & 1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1-1/4 cloves minced garlic
1-1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1-1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/3 cup & 2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup & 2 tbs white wine
1/3 cup, 1 tbs and 1 teaspoon finely diced onions

Directions

1. In a food processor mix tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and oregano.
2. Blend til smooth
3. In a large pan sautee the onion in olive oil on medium heat for about 2mins.
4. Add the sauce mixture and the wine, simmer for about 30mins. You will want to stir occasionally.

Filling Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped onions
3 tbs olive oil
8-1/2 cloves finely chopped garlic (garlic press is an amazing invention!)
2 pounds crumbled Italian sausage
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
4 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup mozarella
1/4 shredded fresh parmesean cheese (if you only have grated that works too)
4 eggs, beaten

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and sautee onion until clear.
2. Sautee garlic cloves for a ming and then stir in the sausage
3. Cook until sausage is done, season with a little salt then set aside and let cool down.
4. Cook the spinach how you normally would. I just put it in the microwave and cooked it for a few mins.
5. Add the cooked spinach, ricotta cheese, mozzarella and parmesean cheese to the sausage mixture above in steps 1-4.
6. When the mixture has cooled down mix in the eggs then set aside


Stuffing and Assembling the Manicotti

I would make the pasta shells first then the filling followed by the red sauce and finally the white is made last.

Now that your manicotti shells have cooled down next you want to put some of the sausage filling on the edge of the pasta shell and roll it into a tube.You want to tuck the side that has the filling on it over the other side of the filling and roll it into a tube shape. The amount of the mixture you want to add depends on how stuffed you want them. I used about 3 tbs in each shell.

In a 9x13 baking dish (you might need two dishes lol) spread about a 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom. Put the already stuffed manicotti shells in the baking dish on top of the marinara sauce. Cover with saran wrap and set aside.

Now you want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees while you make the white sauce.
Once you have made the white sauce you want to immediately pour the sauce over the already stuffed manicotti shells in the baking dish. Then you want to layer the red sauce over it without mixing them. So basically you are layering the two sauces. If they get mixed it's not the end of the world

Cover and bake for 45mins. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh shredded parnesean cheese about 1/2 cup..It really depends on how much you like parmesean cheese Bake uncovered for ten more mins.


Ok there it is...my homemade manicotti. It takes a bit to make but it is SO good and everyone will love it. For the marinara you can use hamburger meat if you choose to but I prefer crumbled sausage.

I also don't usually use canned tomatoes and my marinara sauce cooks all day but my personal recipe is a family secret so it is never given out...hehe This sauce will work just fine, you can also used canned sauce if you don't want to make it.

This goes really well with homemade garlic basil parmesean breadsticks which I will post next and link to in here.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cda03c5b9e5d.jpg[/atsimg]

Oh my goodness, Those bread sticks look like mutated potatoes!! ARG I Want some now!!!

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Can u advise me on a really good marinara sauce, I know you cant expose the family recipe, but I tryna impress my chic, she's a great cook, but we are very competitve,

Also, i'm kinda confused about the measurement of the white sauce, are they sorta doubled???

Originally posted by reesie45
Oh my goodness, Those bread sticks look like mutated potatoes!! ARG I Want some now!!!

Haha yeah they look bigger than they really were. When I took the pic and then saw it I was like :O wow..lol

They were really good and gone in a night lol

reply to post by mblahnikluver


This sucks, I'm at work til 8am, and I keep looking at this pics, now i'm hongry as hell

Originally posted by AdamAnt
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

Can u advise me on a really good marinara sauce, I know you cant expose the family recipe, but I tryna impress my chic, she's a great cook, but we are very competitve,

Also, i'm kinda confused about the measurement of the white sauce, are they sorta doubled???

You can use the marinara sauce above and add whatever herbs you want. You can add meat to it if you like as well. The above sauce is my fast and easy last minute sauce and it's really good too. Some people add sugar to their marinara sauce so it's a little sweet, that is up to you. Other things you can add to the sauce is crumbled cooked bacon. Yes bacon..OMG it's great for flavor.

The measurements for the white sauce yes are weird but you need both. I didn't use a full measurement like say 2 cups instead I used 2 cups and 2 tbs. It's a flavor thing lol trial and error!

I'm half italian, I got emotional with this thread. BRAVO !

Now let me reheat my Melanzane Parmigiana left in the fridge.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


What a wonderful recipe...thank you...I am going to try it....but..I have a question. If you don't have a griddle..how can you still cook the pasta?

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

What a wonderful recipe...thank you...I am going to try it....but..I have a question. If you don't have a griddle..how can you still cook the pasta?

Thank you

Sure you can use a frying pan just spray it lightly with cooking spray.

Good stuff here and I must try this out.
Thank you for the thread and the hunger now!

Originally posted by Trueman
I'm half italian, I got emotional with this thread. BRAVO !

Now let me reheat my Melanzane Parmigiana left in the fridge.

Awe I will take that as a compliment! Thank you.

Im Sicilian/Italian

Ok now that sounds really good!

Originally posted by g146541
Good stuff here and I must try this out.
Thank you for the thread and the hunger now!

LOL thank you.

Yes my friends tell me I am always making them hungry cause I always talk about food. I do the same to chat lol

Originally posted by mblahnikluver

Originally posted by Trueman
I'm half italian, I got emotional with this thread. BRAVO !

Now let me reheat my Melanzane Parmigiana left in the fridge.

Awe I will take that as a compliment! Thank you.

Im Sicilian/Italian

Ok now that sounds really good!

Prego, amico mio. My father was from Bologna, but since I am in USA, were southern italian cuisine is more popular, I fell in love with melanzane.....or should I say "mulignam"?

Let me share a couple of secrets. When you do meat souce, combine about 80% ground beef and 20% ground pork. A pinch of nutmeg in your bechamel will make everybody ask what's that aroma.

OMG....I need wine. Salute paesano !

reply to post by Trueman


My mom's family is from around Palermo and Venice, my mothers maiden name is Venezia how Italian is that!! I have actually had a couple people argue with me her name isn't Italian, well I just bust out a map and show them Venice since Venice is Venezia!

My other half is German on my dad's side. I like my mix, pretty good one if you ask me

I love to cook pretty much anything Italian since my mom always cooked growing up. I am however not into red sauce as much, too much as a kid lol I prefer the white sauces. I make a mean alfredo sauce to die for, or so I have been told.


I was in Naples for the holidays this year, my ex is stationed there with the US Navy. I spent 3wks there and I loved it! I could have lived there. I fit right in and I loved how his co workers thought I was an Italian chick he met! It made me smile.

Originally posted by Trueman

Let me share a couple of secrets. When you do meat souce, combine about 80% ground beef and 20% ground pork. A pinch of nutmeg in your bechamel will make everybody ask what's that aroma.

OMG....I need wine. Salute paesano !

That sounds so good! I will have to try that.

Funny thing is my friend just mentioned yesterday how her friend, who is Italian, cooks her sauce with pork chops in it and when the sauce is done she takes the pork chops out. She said they have to be bone in chops. I am so going to try that next. I put bacon in mine for some flavor

Ohh I like nutmeg and bechamel sauce is awesome! Sounds like a good mix.

I love how you say pinch!

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Yes, I remember that one with the pork chops too, never tried but got to be good. About the bacon, I'll try it this week. As I told you my father was from Bologna. My mother is a native south american from the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, an strange mix I guess...haha.

Adesso ho capito sei una ragazza, piacere amica mia.