manicotti

​I’ve been blogging about food for four years. I can’t believe in all that time I haven’t shared my mother’s recipe for manicotti. Could it be that I haven’t made them in four years?
 
I had a craving for manicotti and I thought during the virus lock-down, it would be a good time to make them. My mother made her own shells, but they are more like a crepe. The batter consists of flour, eggs, water and a pinch of salt. You make her manicotti shells like you are making pancakes, however, you don’t have to flip them over. My mother used a ¼ cup measuring cup to make each crepe, cook on one side. They’re done when they lose their gloss and turn to a matte finish. I made approximately two dozen crepes.

For the filling I mix whole milk ricotta cheese, fresh chopped parsley, salt, pepper, diced whole milk mozzarella and 1 egg per pound of ricotta. I found this ratio yields a creamy filling after baking. I put one to two teaspoons full of the filling in the middle of the shell. Lastly, fold one side over the other to enclose the filling. The manicotti are placed in a casserole pan that has some tomato sauce on the bottom. After the pan is full, spoon additional sauce over the pasta. Cover the pan with foil and bake 25-30 minutes or until the manicotti are bubbling. Remove from the oven and fold back one corner of the foil and let the pasta rest for approximately 10 minutes. You should have delicious manicotti with a creamy filling.
 
Mine came out perfectly tonight. My mother’s manicotti are very light, not heavy and filling. I didn’t fill all the shells so that I have some left for another meal. To quote Lidia Bastianich, “"Tutti a tavola a mangiare!" which means "Everyone to the table to eat!"