Making Manicotti Sunset Park Style
Today, I suddenly had a desire for manicotti. Manicotti is an Italian pasta dish. It is "tubes" or rolls of pasta filled with a stuffing.
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I know Renee keeps a supply of a variety of various pastas available in the pantry, but I wanted to make it from scratch. When I was a little kid my mom would build a pile of flour on the kitchen table and let me crack a couple of eggs and drop them onto the flour.
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I used to watch in amazement how she could turn that same flour into raviolis, or cavatelli (finger-tip sized pasta crescent "lumps") or lasagne. It was magic.
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So I washed the kitchen table & got ready to do magic.
Today, I suddenly
Today, I suddenly
I put 2 and a half cups of flour on the table and then sprinkled about a teaspoon of salt.
I broke 4 eggs and dropped them into a little "cup" shape that I made in the flour.
I try to only use one hand to mix the dough. Two hands would be much easier, but it is so nice to have a clean hand to use and not leave a detective's trail of floured hand prints throughout the kitchen.
Keep at least one extra cup of flour available to dust the table, wipe the rolling pin and put on your hands (this keeps the flour from sticking).
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Knead the dough for about ten minutes.
The trick to cooking is being prepared. Have everything you need out and ready to use.
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In addition to the extra cup of flour, I keep a cup of water (to sprinkle from if the dough is too dry).
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And a fork - I use the side of it to scrape excess dough from my fingers (holding it in my clean left hand).
I cut the dough into 4 parts. When rolling out your dough try to keep it rectangular, or just cut rectangles (to be rolled up into tubes) and take the cut off scraps and add it to the remaining dough to roll out next.
That may look like a bar of butter but it is a 1/3 of a pound of mozzarella cheese. I grated some for the "stuffing" and some to sprinkle on top once all of the manicotti is in the casserole dish (notice it in the back?). I added a layer of tomato sauce & crushed meatballs.
In a large bowl I put 1 egg and some chopped spinach. Next I will add tomato sauce & chopped up meatballs (Renee keeps several containers - homemade - in the freezer for future use.)
Here is the grated mozzarella going in. The tomato sauce is already in.
Line the center of a rectangle of dough with the stuffing and roll it closed and place in the casserole.
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Then cover with tomato sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the grated mozzarella.
Pre-heat your oven to 375 and cover the dish with tinfoil. Bake for 25 minutes and then remove the tinfoil and continue baking for 25 more minutes. You should see it bubbling. Let it cool for awhile and be sure to have a loaf of Italian bread for dipping in the sauce.
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Some folks like to cut the bread into pieces, cut open and sprinkle some olive oil and dust with garlic powder and put in the oven along with the manicotti - but only for about ten minutes or until brown.