When I went to Cugino’s to get the cheese for my pizza the other day I also picked up some ricotta. This is not the stuff you get in the store, oh no, its definitely something else. Its creamy not runny and watery and it’s flat out amazing. Again, you wont find this in the store. Look at your local Italian deli for the good stuff (Polly-O). Any who, this dish is to die for and it’s basically all about the cheese although the noodles and sauce are great too. I added the whole can of tomato paste and got a nice thick sauce but that was purely by accident and I think trying it with the half can first would be best (original recipe). You can always add more right? This is a solid meal and got six thumbs up.
Whole Wheat Manicotti
Makes about 6 pieces.
- Ingredients
- — Pasta —
- 1 c. whole wheat flour
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
- water, as much as you need to get a nice dough (I had to use about 1/2 c.)
- — Sauce —
- 1 can of organic diced tomatoes (15 oz.)
- 1 can of organic tomato paste (3 oz.), add more of the can for a thicker sauce as shown in picture above (full 6 oz.)
- 1/4 c. white wine
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 T. olive oil
- pinch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
- T. dried oregano
- — Filling —
- 1 lb. ricotta cheese (not from store but Italian deli, the good creamy stuff, polly-o, not the wet crap)
- 1/4 lb. fresh mozzarella
- 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
- pinch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
- tiny pinch of nutmeg
- — Topping —
- 1/4 lb. fresh mozzarella
- Preparation
Start a large pot of water boiling. Combine all the ingredients for the pasta in a bowl and mix/kneed into a nice dough ball. Not dry and not sticky starting with no water and adding gradually until consistency is right. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
Combine all ingredients for sauce into a blender or food processor and blend. Pour into a small sauce pan and heat on a low heat until your ready to pour into pan for baking.
Combine all ingredients for filling into a bowl and mix together. Set aside.
Break dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll one into a long rectangle getting it as flat as you can (This is where a pasta roller would be heavenly). Wide enough to fit nicely in baking dish (9×13) and long enough to cut into two pieces. Cut edges to make straight. Cut into two pieces. You should be able to get 6 nice rectangles about 7-1/2×8-1/2. This is all rough, just do what feels like a good size. Drop pasta into boiling water for about 30-45 seconds. Put in strainer one after the other. Set aside.
The assembly, pour half the sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Put appropriate amount of filling into each pasta shell and roll into a tube placing each one in baking dish. Pour the rest of the sauce over rolled manicottis. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Take out and add fresh sliced mozzarella over top and cook for another 10 or 15 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.