Sinatra Italian Manicotti
Source of Recipe
Internet
List of Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
kosher salt
3/4 cup white, unbleached flour
2/3 cup skim milk
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
5 ounces baby spinach, cleaned
1 tablespoon butter
4 ounces whole milk mozzarella
1/4 cup Locatelli or Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
15 ounces whole milk ricotta
whole nutmeg
1 tablespoon fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
black pepper
prepared tomato sauce
Start by making the batter for the homemade manicotti wrappers. Crack eggs into a coffee cup and pour them into a blender. Add the vegetable oil, a small pinch of kosher salt, flour, milk and water. Blend this until nice and smooth and pour into a 2 cup measuring cup. The mixture just fits in the cup. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it. The batter needs to rest for at least 1/2 an hour. For the filling: in a large saute pan heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until tender and golden. While the onions are cooking, mince the garlic with a little kosher salt. Add the garlic when the onions are ready and cook for another minute. Add the baby spinach and cook for a few minutes over medium heat. When the spinach is just wilted, spread the spinach onion mixture on a dinner plate to cool. Heat a 10 inch nonstick pan over medium heat with a dab of butter. Remove the manicotti batter from the fridge and stir briefly. When the pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of the batter. Tilt the pan and make a very thin "pancake" that is as large as the bottom of the pan. Cook for a little over a minute and then loosen with a heat resistant rubber spatula. Using the spatula, flip the "pancake". Cook the other side briefly and remove it to a wax paper lined dinner plate. Add another dab of butter to the pan and add another 1/4 cup of batter. When this "pancake" is flipped, move the first "pancake" to another clean wax paper lined dinner plate. Repeat this procedure, stacking the "pancakes" on top of each other on the second dinner plate. Since they are cooked on both sides, they will not stick together. These "pancakes" or "crepes", are a little tricky and sometimes the very tender dough tears. They all come together when baked, though. You should have 10 manicotti wrappers. Over a piece of wax paper, grate the mozzarella. Put the shredded mozzarella into a 1 cup measuring cup. Combine the mozzarella, Locatelli and ricotta cheese in a large bowl. Add the cooled spinach onion mixture, a few fresh gratings of nutmeg and the fresh parsley. Also add some freshly ground black pepper, stir and taste for seasoning. Preheat the oven to 375F. Heat the prepared tomato sauce in a pan on the stove. Coat the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with some tomato sauce. Place a couple of large spoonfuls of the spinach cheese filling down the center of a manicotti wrapper and roll up. Place them in the prepared baking dish and continue with the rest of the manicotti. Try and divide the filling equally among the 10 wrappers. Squeeze the filled manicotti into the baking pan and barely cover the top with some more tomato sauce. Place the pan, uncovered, into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the bubbling pan from the oven and after a couple of minutes carefully serve the manicotti with additional hot tomato sauce.
Recipe
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