Homemade Manicotti

Three Cheese Manicotti

My wife Dana is from New York City! When we visit NYC, we like to purchase food items to bring back Virginia.  One of those food items is fresh pasta.  Our favorite is Manicotti.  You just can’t beat the flavor of the pasta, from the pasta stores in New York.  Since we haven’t been to NY in a while, our stash has run dry.  So I wanted to surprise Dana with some handmade Manicotti.  I must say the three cheese Manicotti was freaking fantastic.  Even Dana said it was the best that she had eaten.  That says a lot.

Homemade Manicotti

Three Cheese Manicotti

The first thing that you have to do to make Manicotti is to make the pasta.  Traditional manicotti uses a crepe, but we like to form tubes from pasta sheets.  To make sheet pasta follow the recipe here.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

The filling

Once you have the pasta made, it is time to make the filling.  In a large bowl combine the ricotta, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Mozzarella, parsley, salt and pepper.

Mixed and ready to go

Place the cheese mixture into a zip-top bag and seal.  Then cut the corner of the bag about 2/3rds of an inch up.

Cut the pasta

Lay the sheet pasta out onto prep surface.  Then cut the pasta into 4-5 inch inch pieces.

Using the zip-top bag as a pastry bag, squeeze a cylinder of the cheese filling down the sheet about 1 inch from the edge.Pipe out the filling

Once you have a cylinder of cheese on the pasta, wet the far edge of the pasta with a little water.  Then gently roll the pasta around the cylinder of cheese forming tubes.  Make sure to roll the pasta all the way to the edge.  The water will seal the pasta making a tube.

Roll them up

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with sauce and then arrange the Manicotti in a single layer in the baking dish.  Then gently spoon a little more sauce over the top of each Manicotti. Then sprinkle with a little more Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Place the manicotti into a baking dish

This will probably make more Manicotti than you have room for in your baking dish.  If that happens you can make two dishes or you can place the remaining into a freezer bag and freeze them for up to a year.  Make sure to freeze them in a single layer that way you can cook them right from frozen.

Sprinkle the top with cheese

Cover the dish with foil and then bake for 20-30 minutes or until the the filling is hot and the sauce is bubbly.

Delicious homemade manicotti

Then it is time to eat!

Time to eat

Three Cheese Manicotti
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 
A super delicious three cheese Manicotti that made my Italian wife jump for joy!
Course: Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Rex
Ingredients
  • 1 recipe pasta rolled into sheets
  • 4 cups favorite Marinara Sauce homemade or store bought
  • 32 oz fresh whole milk ricotta
  • 8 oz grated mozzarella
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano plus extra to sprinkle on top
  • 1/3 cup freshly minced parsley
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
  1. The first thing that you have to do to make Manicotti is to make the pasta. Traditional manicotti uses a crepe, but we like to form tubes from pasta sheets. To make sheet pasta follow the recipe here.
  2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Once you have the pasta made, it is time to make the filling. In a large bowl combine the ricotta, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Mozzarella, parsley, salt and pepper.
  4. Place the cheese mixture into a zip-top bag and seal. Then cut the corner of the bag about 2/3rds of an inch up.
  5. Lay the sheet pasta out onto prep surface. Then cut the pasta into 4-5 inch inch pieces.
  6. Using the zip-top bag as a pastry bag, squeeze a cylinder of the cheese filling down the sheet about 1 inch from the edge.
  7. Once you have a cylinder of cheese on the pasta, wet the far edge of the pasta with a little water. Then gently roll the pasta around the cylinder of cheese forming tubes. Make sure to roll the pasta all the way to the edge. The water will seal the pasta making a tube.
  8. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with sauce and then arrange the Manicotti in a single layer in the baking dish. Then gently spoon a little more sauce over the top of each Manicotti.
  9. Cover the dish with foil and then bake for 20-30 minutes or until the the filling is hot and the sauce is bubbly.
  10. Then it is time to eat!

This was quite possible the best homemade pasta I have ever made.  Completely delicious!

Rex

Rex is an avid griller, barbecuer and bacon enthusiast. He is the Pitmaster for the Rex BBQ competition team. Rex was also featured on the TV show American Grilled. If you have any questions or wish to have Rex decode your favorite dish, click on the ASK REX link in the menu above.

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