Manicotti

This is my absolute favorite dish in the entire world. My Grandma used to make it for every holiday meal, and a few other times a year as well. A picky and sparse eater as a child, I nonetheless ate manicotti until I was bursting at the seams. My cousin Sean and I used to delight in having contests to see who could eat more, and my shining moment came when I ate 10 and he only finished 8 :)

This is not a recipe for the dieting type -- while there are some ways to cut calories (using part skim cheeses for example), this is NOT a meal that can be made with non-fat cheeses for the cheeses are the be all and end all of the dish. So if you're going to make it, be ready to splurge and revel in the decadence of this delicious meal.

There are pre-made pasta shells for manicotti that you could use if you must. Similarly, large sheets of fresh lasagna pasta will do in a pinch, but there is no substitute for the real thing -- fresh crepes. The recipe is below, and trust me, they are not hard. Once you get the hang of them, it's a piece of cake. My mom and I can knock them out in an assembly line at the rate of about 60 an 30 minutes.

The recipe below makes 12 manicotti, which easily serves 4, and if you have meatballs and sausages on the side, or some other side-dish, could also serve 6. But be warned, as good as these are right out of the oven, they're even better the next day gently warmed up, so I always recommend making a generous enough portion that you'll have leftovers.

Crepes:

4 eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup flour
a pinch of salt

Whisk the eggs, water and salt together until the eggs are thoroughly blended. Sift in the flour a bit at a time, and continue whisking in the flour to make sure there are no lumps. Mix just until the flour is fully incorporated, but do not let the mixture start to get fluffy. Let it sit for a few minutes before cooking.

Take an 8 inch, non-stick frying pan and heat it up over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, lower the heat to medium/low and put a very thin spray of non-stick cooking spray over the pan (you may need to do this again after 6 or so crepes, but if your pan is very good, you might not need to do it again at all). Using a large spoon (the kind you stir a big pot of soup or sauce with), pour the mixture into the pan and roll it around the pan until it forms a full circle on the bottom -- add a bit more if necessary to cover the whole pan. When the edges start to curl ever-so-slightly, flip it over for about 10 seconds, and then remove from heat and put on a plate. If you're going to fill the manicotti right away, there's no need to separate the crepes with anything, but if you are going to wait a few hours or a day or two, separate each crepe with wax paper or saran wrap.

Filling:

8 ounces of ricotta cheese
4 ounces of diced mozzarella cheese (don't use fresh mozzarella -- it's too wet and will make the mixture runny)
1 egg
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian flat leaf parsely
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

As an option, you could also add about 1/2 cup cooked, chopped spinach to the filling.

Stir this together, and fill each crepe with about 2 heaping teaspoons of the mixture before rolling them up. Place them in a casserole dish that's generously lined with tomato sauce (I prefer the sauce made with meatballs and sausages because the flavor is richer, but marinara sauce is great too. Do NOT use Bolognese sauce as it's too overwhelming and the meat will over-power the delicate cheese-filled crepes). Once they're all in the dish, cover with more sauce and then sprinkle liberally with shredded mozzarella. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 35-45 minutes, at 350 degrees, until bubbling on the sides and so hot in the middle that you can't stick your finger into it without immediately recoiling. Be sure to put a few toothpicks in the top so the aluminum doesn't stick to the manicotti.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving so the cheeses can firm up just a bit. It will make serving much easier.

When heating up leftovers, either microwave them at medium power until just warmed through, our put them in a saute pan, with a little bit of water, and gently heat over low heat.