Saturday, April 18, 2009

Homemade Manicotti

FOUND IT: In Rachael Ray's magazine.
ADAPTED IT: A little.

This recipe is quickly becoming a standby. You can easily modify the basic pasta recipe to make crepes, and fill them with anything you like.

Ingredients:

Filling:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated romano
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (I substitute Italian seasoning)
2 tablespoons milk

Pasta:
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 cup water (I use milk)
(I added some italian seasonings here at well)

3 cups pasta sauce
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Beat the eggs with the water (or milk), then mix in the flour, eliminating lumps. Add the seasonings, if you're using them. Spray an 8-inch pan and put it on medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, tilting the pan to spread it around. Allow crepes to cook around 45 seconds on one side, then flip and cook around 15 seconds on the other. Move the finished crepe to a plate, spray the pan again and repeat.

Then, combine all the filling ingredients. You can add some browned italian sausage or pepperoni at this point as well. Pour half the pasta sauce into a 9x13 baking dish. Spoon the cheese mixture down the middle of each crepe, then roll them and place them seam-side down in the dish. Once they're all in there, pour the remaining pasta sauce over the top, top with cheese and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

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