Impromtu Manicotti

Manicotti normally wouldn't really be an impromptu meal, but I had some sauce in the freezer so suddenly it becomes a lot easier and faster to make. And as I've said before, I've been known to get a bee in my bonnet about things and lately the urge to make manicotti started buzzing in my head.

I decided to make spinach/ricotta manicotti. I already had the frozen spinach so all I really needed to buy was ricotta and the manicotti shells themselves. While I waited for the big pot of water to boil, I went ahead and defrosted the spinach in the microwave. Once that is done, make sure you drain it well. I either squeeze it out with my hands or put it in a few layers of paper towels in a ball, then squeeze the ball of spinach between the paper towels. Either way, you want it to not be watery at all. When that is done, put the spinach in a medium sized bowl and add your seasonings.... salt, pepper, red pepper flakes if you want. On this particular day I happen to have a huge bundle of fresh oregano from a friends garden, so I added that to mine.


Then add your one pound of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and one beaten egg. Stir well.



When the manicotti shells are very al dente, as in about only half cooked, take them out of the water and run under cold water so they stop cooking and they are easier to handle.

Take a 9 x 13 baking dish and put a good layer of sauce down on the bottom.

Coming off my cake decorating class high, I decided to use a pastry bag to fill the manicotti shells. I put quite a bit in the disposable bag and then cut a good sized hole in the tip. The hole needs to be a little bigger than you would normally make for icing a cake since you don't want spinach to get stuck in the bag. And if you don't have pastry bags, disposable or otherwise, you can always use a good sized plastic food storage bag. Just put the filling in, squeeze it to one side of the back then cut a hole in. Easy peasy :)



This made quick work of filling the shells so as each was filled, I lined them up in the pan in one layer. There was room for all of them in the pan.




Cover with more sauce... use more than you think you need. This is why we cooked the shells only half way. The sauce will cook them the rest of the way. Then top with Parmesan cheese.




Bake for 45 minutes at 350. When you remove them from the oven the sauce is soaked in and they are bubble and gooey and oh so yummy!



You can certainly add mozzarella to the top. That will just add even more cheese goodness!

Eat your hearts out!

Spaghetti Sauce just like Grandma and Mom make

I'm sure most Italians have a good sauce recipe handed down through the generations and my family is no exception. The traditional way I learned it is to brown neck bones, pig's feet and sausage, then add them to the sauce. I do make it this way (minus the pig's feet, I never did develop a love for those!) from time to time. But mostly I make it the way I am posting about today.

Start with a pound of bulk Italian sausage. If you can't find bulk, buy links and just remove the sausage from the casings. With about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan at medium high heat, add the sausage and crumble.



When it's just starting to brown, add one chopped onion (should be medium to large - if small, use two) and five cloves of chopped garlic. Oh relax, this is a big pot of sauce, 5 cloves isn't that much! Hell I use more than that usually.




Let this all cook together for about five minutes and then add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of red wine. Stir it up and let the wine pick up all the flavor off the bottom of the pan. Let this cook for about another five minutes. Now it's time to add the tomatoes. I use three 6 oz. cans of tomato paste and two 28 oz. cans of tomato puree. For each can of tomato paste you will add three cans of water. So that is nine (6 oz) cans of water. We do it this way so we can clean out as much of the tomato paste out of the can as possible. Then after you add the tomato puree, add a half a (28 oz) can of water each (again to clean out the can).



I guess it may sound convoluted this way, but this is the way I was taught and it works! Stir the sauce occasionally while the tomato paste melts down and so the sausage doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. When it is all melted, add your seasonings. You can adjust these to your taste. I use a palmful of Italian seasoning (ends up being about 4 Tablespoons), half that amount of dried parsley, two bay leaves, two Tablespoons of salt and one Tablespoon of pepper. Stir that in. If you want to use fresh herbs, I would suggest you add them at the end of the cooking process or they will lose all their flavor.




When the sauce just comes to a boil, it's time for the secret ingredient. One teaspoon of baking soda. This cuts down on the acidity of the tomatoes. Take the baking soda and put it on your wooden spoon or whatever spoon you are stirring your sauce with. Dip the spoon into the sauce and immediately start to stir it around. The sauce is going to foam up some.




Now, I'm going to only say this once, and please if you decide not to take my advice, do not tell me about it. DO NOT PUT SUGAR IN MY SAUCE!!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. This sauce does not need sugar. In fact, it's my humble opinion that no tomato sauce ever needs sugar. If you want the sauce sweeter, add more onion or add grated carrots. Nothing ruins a beautiful sauce more than sugar. I am very very passionate about this.

OK, feeling better now. Turn the temp down so the sauce is at a simmer. Take your lid and lay it on top the pot, you don't want to completely cover it. The lid should not be sealed, but should be partially open. Then let the beautiful pot of sauce cook for as long as you can stand it! I usually let mine cook for between four and five hours. The longer it cooks, the better it will taste. The beautiful aroma will drive you crazy, mark my words. So the day you make the sauce, make sure you have a good loaf of crusty Italian bread nearby. I'm sure you'll want to taste the sauce as it's cooking and see how the progress is, right? Take some of your crusty bread and dip it in the sauce to see how it is.





Once it's done, serve over pasta. Make a lasagna. Do whatever you want with it! You can even freeze it. Enjoy!

On top of Spaghetti

I've been hankering for some spaghetti and meatballs and just haven't had the time or the inclination lately to make that long simmering sauce. You know, the kind that takes 5 hours to cook but is so worth the time?

So what does one do when in that situation? Order in? Yeah, I guess that would be the obvious solution. But mine was to have a chat with my grandma and ask her how she makes her meatballs. After that discussion, my yen for the dish got even stronger. What to do!!! Then I remembered Ina Garten made spaghetti and meatballs on her show and she didn't make a long simmering sauce. What was I afraid of! Just make sauce you moron. So I did.

For the meatballs I used 2 lbs of ground turkey. Grandma never ever uses ground turkey but I like to use it and she'll never know I did it so shhh! To that I added bread crumbs, dried parsley, Italian seasoning, two eggs, half of a large onion (grated), and 5 (yes five!) cloves of garlic, grated.




Mix with your hands, they are natures best spoon. LOL who said that? I can't remember. Maybe Sara Moulton. Anyway, mix it all up with your hands and form into meatballs, about the size of a golf ball, especially if you're not using turkey because they will shrink up on you.




Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Or you can shallow fry them (which means to put about an inch of oil in your pan and fry them, turning to get each side browned). I did turn mine about midway through the cooking process, but you don't have to.

Now the sauce. Start out with that other half of onion, chopped in a big pan with about 3 Tablespoons of olive oil. When it's starting to look translucent, add another 5 cloves of chopped garlic. Oh come on! You know you love garlic! It's not that much. Really. Add some salt and pepper. Do not let the garlic brown! If the pot is too hot, turn it down. After a few minutes, add 1/3 cup of red wine.




Let it reduce a little then add a 28 oz can of tomatoes. I use puree, but you can use crushed or whole (and crush them by hand) or whatever you like. Bring it up to a boil then turn it down to a simmer and add some salt, pepper and Italian seasoning (if you have fresh basil use it, but add it closer to the end of the cooking process).




When the meatballs are done, add them all to the sauce, cover and let simmer for at least half an hour, more if you want. But make sure you stir so the meatballs don't stick to the bottom the pan or they may burn.

Boil your pasta. When it comes to long pasta I generally go for linguine. I like shape a little more than regular spaghetti. Add the pasta to the sauce and serve.




Add some grated Parmesan or Romano if desired.