Louies Holiday Manicotti Recipes

MC CALL'S COOKING SCHOOL MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Make sauce: In hot oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven, saute onion and garlic 5 minutes.
• Mix in rest of sauce ingredients and 1 1/2 cups water, mashing tomatoes with fork.
• Bring to boiling, and reduce heat.
• Simmer mixture, covered and stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
• Make manicotti: In medium bowl, combine 6 eggs, the flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 cups water with electric mixer.
• Beat just until smooth.
• Let stand 1/2 hour or longer.
• Slowly heat an 8" skillet. If you aren't using a skillet with a non-stick surface, brush skillet lightly with butter for each manicotti. Pour in 3 tablespoons batter, rotating the skillet quickly to spread batter evenly over bottom.
• Cook over medium heat until top is dry but bottom is not brown.
• Turn out on a wire rack to cool.
• Continue cooking until all of the batter is used.
• As the manicotti cool, stack them with waxed paper between them.
• Preheat oven to 350.
• Make Filling: In large bowl, combine ricotta, mozarrella, 1/3 cup parmesan, the eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley.
• Beat with wooden spoon to blend well.
• Spread about 1/4 cup filling down the center of each manicotti and roll up.
• Spoon 1 1/2 cups sauce into each of two 12x8x2" baking dishes.
• Place 8 rolled manicotti seam side down in single layer. Top with 5 more.
• Cover with 1 cup sauce and sprinkle with parmesan.
• Bake, uncovered, 1/2 hour or until bubbly.

SUSAN'S MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, sugar and parsley; season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
• Spread half the marinara in the bottom of a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. Fill each shell with ricotta mixture and arrange in an even layer in dish. Top with remaining 2 cups marinara. Cover with foil and bake until sauce is bubbling and shells are tender, about 40 minutes.
• Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over top, return to oven, and bake until cheese is browned in spots, about 10 minutes.

GRANDMA'S KITCHEN OLD-WORLD MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Cook pasta according to package directions(be sure to not over cook, they need to be a little chewey for easier stuffing). Carefully remove each shell and rinse with cool water. Let pasta dry on paper towels. Don't get too upset if a couple break, its bound to happen :).
• For the filling, in a large ziplock bag (seriously!), put in 3 cups mozzarella with the ricotta and fresh basil. Seal the bag tightly. Smush the bag around with your hands until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed (it's a nice stress reliever too!).
• Snip off the bottom corner of the ziplock bag (the point is to have the hole a tad smaller than the manicotti opening, where you can just barely slip it into the shell). Use this method to squeeze the cheese mixture into each manicotti.
• See, that wasn't so bad! ;).
• Spoon 2 cups spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over top of pasta. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
• Bake manicotti for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Parmesan; bake for 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

LOUIE'S HOLIDAY MANICOTTI

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over high heat, add olive oil. Sauté onion and garlic until onions are translucent.
• In a blender, process cashews and water until completely smooth, then add sautéed onions and garlic and process again. Add nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and set sauce aside.
• In a food processor, combine hominy, tofu, breadcrumbs, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/3 cup sauce until the consistency of ricotta is reached. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, and add butternut squash and 1/3 cup vegan mozzarella.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat bottom and sides of a 9- by 12-inch pan with a small amount of sauce. Fill pasta tubes with hominy mixture (by hand or using a pastry bag) and arrange in pan. Cover manicotti with sauce, then top with remaining vegan mozzarella. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with extra sauce on the side.