First 'Class' Stuffed Manicotti

Believe it or not, I've never had the opportunity to make my own homemade manicotti.. until last night. Oh, I've made manicotti many times.. but using store bought manicotti shells.. and I have to say, that will never happen again!! :o)

I was lucky enough to have come across Maryann from Finding La Dolce Vita's excellent step-by-step tutoral on how to make your own manicotti crepes. Following her wonderful tutoral you too will be able to prepare your own homemade manicotti right in your own kitchens!

I made a spinach ricotta filling for mine and my very simple marinara sauce. Maryann's crepe recipe yields 5 crepes, so I ended up making a second batch of crepe batter.. because I now could! LOL My first crepe turned out misshapen.. so once it had cooled I just dusted it with powdered sugar and had it with my tea. But the rest turned out super!


Homemade Stuffed Manicotti with Marinara sauce

First you need to begin with a nice Marinara Sauce

1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, smashed & chopped
2 - 32 oz cans whole plum Italian tomatoes - crush them up with your hands
1 small can of crushed Italian tomatoes
1 TBLS each- fresh parsley & fresh basil
white pepper and a bit of ground sea salt
2 oz Pinot Grigio white wine
1 tsp sugar

Saute your garlic in olive oil until lightly browned, add your herbs next.. sauteeing for only a minute or two. Add your hand crushed whole plum tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and wine next and stir pot well once.. bring it all to a gently boil, and then reduce heat to the lowest simmer. Continue simmering for an hour or so, until your sauce has thicken up and reduced. Try not to stir often.. you will want this sauce to be thick and chunky.

While your sauce is cooking.. make your ricotta filling.

30 oz Ricotta (whole milk) cheese
6 oz mozzarella cheese
2 oz asiago shredded cheese
handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh spinach leaves, torn

Now.. you are ready to make your crepes!!

But I'll let you pop on over to Maryann's blog to really get a birdseye view of how these delicious manicotti crepes are made first hand. :)

We really enjoyed the lightness of this manicotti and ease of preparation. Thanks for sharing your recipe Maryann!


Making my first homemade Manicotti Crepes
Marinara cooking..


Ricotta cheese mixture


My first crepe!

The crepes are done

Filling manicotti

Manicotti stuffed

And now all ready to pop into the oven

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v241/YankeeSoaper/Making%20Manicotti%20Marinara/?action=view¤t=6fbfebd7.pbw