Four Cheese Manicotti

I was recently out to dinner at an Italian restaurant with my brother and he ordered manicotti, one of my all time favorite dishes.  I commented that I should order that also, because I love it and it never seems to turn out the same at home and he retorted that was because I was using store bought manicotti shells.  Now, I don't always listen to my brother, he is after all my baby brother, but, in this case, I had a sneaky suspicion he just might be onto something.

When I got home, I referred to my trusty Soprano Family Cookbook for the recipe for the crepes and it turns out they are super simple.  Flour, water, eggs and salt.

It was just the kids and I, so I wanted to make a fairly small sized serving.  I combined 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt,

whisked it together and then covered and refrigerated it while I prepared filling.

I love cheese!

For the filling, I combined 1 cup of ricotta cheese,

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese,

a couple of ounces of goat cheese,

and 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

I added an egg and some salt and pepper

along with some chopped Italian parsley

and stirred to combine.

For the sauce I used my standard marinara.  I feel like I repeat this a lot here and it probably deserves its own post, but no time for that today, so here it is again.  Chop up a couple of cloves of garlic.

Yum!

Puree 32 ounces of canned diced tomatoes.

Add a couple tablespoons to a large saute pan

and cook the garlic for a few minutes until fragrant.

Add the pureed tomatoes

and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and then add some torn fresh basil.

Now back to the crepes.  I used a small saute pan, which I brushed with olive oil.

I poured approximately 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan once it was hot

and rotated the pan around

to distribute the batter.

After about 1 minute, I was able to flip the crepe over, using my fingers

and continued to cook it for an additional 30 seconds or so.

The finished crepes can be stacked on a plate, separated by wax paper.  The batter made seven crepes.  That kinda drove me nuts...  Wouldn't it have been better if it made eight, or even six?  Huh.  Oh well, onward.

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a baking dish

and smear it all around.

Retrieve the cheese mixture

and, in this case, spoon one seventh (not one sixth or eighth) of the mixture down the center of a crepe.

Beginning at one side, roll it up

just like an enchilada

and place it into the marinara coated baking dish.

Repeat with all seven crepes

and then smother the prepared crepes with the remaining marinara sauce.

Now, for more cheese!  Take another cup of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle it on top

and then grate a bit more Parmesan cheese on top of that.

Pop the dish into a preheated, 350 degree oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Yum!  When it comes out of the oven, you will have a gooey, cheesy, delicious entree.

After I plated it, I threw on a little extra cheese and basil for good measure!

Don't tell my brother, but he might have been right.

The crepes make all the difference in the world.  How come I didn't think of that?  Enjoy!

Four Cheese Manicotti 
serves: 4  (Recipe also on Tasty Kitchen)

• For the crepes:
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 t salt
•  For the filling:
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3 ounces goat cheese
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• For the sauce:
• 4 cloves garlic
• 32 ounces diced tomatoes, pureed
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 T fresh basil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• For the top:
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Whisk together 2 eggs, flour, water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt,cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling, combined ricotta, mozzarella, goat and Parmesan cheese. Add an egg and season with salt and pepper.  Stir in chopped Italian parsley.

For the sauce, puree 32 ounces of canned, diced tomatoes.  Heat olive oil in a large saute pan and cook the garlic for a few minutes until fragrant.  Add the pureed tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Let simmer for15 minutes, adding fresh basil at the very end.

Brushed a small saute pan with olive oil.  Pour approximately 1/3 cup of the crepe batter into the pan and rotated the pan to distribute the batter.  Cook for about 1 minute and then flip the crepe over, using your fingers and continue to cook for an additional 30 seconds.  Slide onto a plate and repeat with remaining batter.  The finished crepes can be stacked on a plate, separated by wax paper. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  To assemble, spoon a couple of tablespoons of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and smear it around.  Spoon 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture down the center of a crepe, roll it up and place it into the marinara coated baking dish.  Repeat will all the crepes and then smother with the remaining marinara sauce.  Top the dish with another cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Have you tried these yet?  Oh my goodness!  If you haven't, set some time aside some weekend very soon to make them for someone you love.  These were requested by my 7 year old for his birthday, along with roasted chicken, bow tie pasta, homemade marinara (on the side), salad (dressing on the side), rosemary rolls and carrot cake.  But these were at the top of the list, although he didn't call them Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls.  He called them, "the rolls you made at Christmas".  I knew what he meant.  How could I forget?

They are out of her new cookbook and they are to die for.  I cut the recipe in half, because honestly, we don't need 40 to 50 huge sweet rolls in the house.  We don't need 20 to 25 either, but that is a moot point. 

To begin, take 2 cups of milk,

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

and 1/2 cup of sugar and heat it just until boiling.  Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm.  I'm not kidding here. COOL TO LUKEWARM!  Both times I've made these I hadn't cooled the liquid enough and have promptly killed my yeast, at which point I jump back up to step one and repeat.

When the liquid is at about 110 degrees, according to my candy thermometer, sprinkle 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast (or one package) on the top of the mixture and let sit for one minute.

Then add 4 cups of flour and stir.  Cover with a towel, put in a warm place and let rise for one hour. 

After an hour, or so, when it has doubled in bulk, add 1/2 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 scant teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 heaping tablespoon of salt

and an additional 1/2 cup of flour.   

Mix to combine.  Both times I've made these, I've done this the night before, covered it with a towel and let it sit overnight in a cool place so that it is ready to go when I wake up.  I punched the dough down when I went to bed

and in the morning, it has risen again, so I punched it down

and removed it from the pan to a lightly floured surface. 

Roll out the dough

until you have formed a 30 by 10 inch rectangle.

Now melt 1 cup of butter and spread it over the top of the dough with your fingers. That is a lot of butter!  If you don't use quite all the butter, don't worry.  You can use it to grease the pan you bake the rolls in.

Now sprinkle the dough with lots of cinamon

and top with lots of sugar (about a cup).

Begin rolling, starting at the opposite end, making a tight roll as you go.  When you get to the end, pinch the dough to close. 

PW says not to worry if some filling leaks out, so I didn't.

I took the remaining butter and used it to grease a jelly roll pan.

and then began slicing the roll into 1 1/4" sections.  The first ones weren't pretty but once I got in about 2 inches, they were beautiful.

Arrange the rolls on the baking sheet and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  You want to let the rolls sit and rise for at least 20 minutes, so cover them up with a towel so they don't dry out. When the oven is preheated, cook for about 15 minutes until lightly browned.

While they are baking, prepare the icing.  Add 1/4 cup of milk to 2 cups of powdered sugar.

Add a splash of coffee,

maple flavoring,

and 1/4 teaspoon of salt

along with 3 tablespoons of melted butter.

Whisk until smooth. 

When the rolls are done, remove from the oven

and douse them with icing.  Prepare to have your socks knocked off.  These are out of this world decadent.  You can find Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Roll recipe on
The Tasty Kitchen.  Enjoy!