Archive for December, 2009
Baked Cheese Manicotti
Tonight I felt like making the manicotti that we were supposed to have on our Thanksgiving table. It’s cold and nasty out for the past 3 days and I really didn’t feel like going out. When I saw that I still had the cheeses needed for the dish it became our dinner. It was very good and Mick bought in some fresh baked bread to have with it so I didn’t even need to bake any.
Baked Cheese Manicotti
12 large manicotti shells
2-15 ounce containers of ricotta cheese
3 cups of shredded mozarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt plus 1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 cups of your favorite tomato sauce
Most people think you have to pre-boil the manicotti shells but you actually don’t if you thin your sauce down a lot, they will cook fine in about an hour covered in a dish in a 325 degree oven, remove the cover at the end to brown the top a little. Let the dish stand about 10 minutes before serving so the cheeses tighten up and don’t run out of the shells when you serve these.
Mix all the ricotta, 2 cups of the mozzarella, parmesean, salt and pepper and parsley together in a bowl. If using manicotti shells that haven’t been pre-boiled you can begin stuffing them with a teaspoon, make sure to not leave air pockets in them, if you have a pastry bag with a large tip this step goes really fast, you could use a large Zip Lock bag with the corner cut off too. In 2 baking dishes put 2 cups of your sauce mixed with one cup of water, set the filled shells on the sauce and cover with more sauce. Cover dish with foil and bake in a 325 degree oven for one hour, remove cover and sprinkle with some of the reserved mozzarella and place back in oven to melt the topping. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes to let the casserole tighten up so the cheese doesn’t all run out when it is served.
You can also pre-boil the shells until they are Al Dente and rinse them, drain them well and then fill them. Put 2 cups of your sauce in the bottom of 2 small casserole dishes and place the filled shells on the sauce, cover with 2 more cups of sauce and then cover with foil and bake as above but for only 30-45 minutes, follow the rest of the procedure from above.
I used some fresh rolled pasta today for these and they came out very good, Mick enjoyed them a lot and will take some for luch tomorrow probably. Hope everyone is warm and safe and enjoying the season.
Mattie
Turkey Soup
Well, I didn’t have enough leftover turkey to make my favorite Tettrazini, but I did manage to make a pot of turkey soup with the carcass and the little bit of leftover meat. I always use the chicken or turkey carcass to make the broths and stocks I use a lot of in my cooking. This time it became turkey barley, mostly because I love barley and I usually use noodles when I make chicken soup so I wanted something a little different this time.
Turkey Barley Soup
One turkey carcass, pick off the best of the meat on it and set that aside for later
Place the carcass, a few scraped carrots, one large peeled onion and a few stalks of celery into a roasting pan, season with a little salt and pepper and pour two tablespoons of oil over it. Place in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes until the veggies start to take on some color.
Place the roasted carcass and veggies into a large tall stock pot, cover with cold water and place on a medium flame until it comes to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for a minimum of 3 hours. Drain thru a fine strainer lined with cheesecloth and discard the solids.
For the Soup
Into the rinsed out stock pot place:
the meat that wasn’t used to make the broth
4 carrots scraped and diced
4 stalks celery sliced thin on the bias
1 medium onion diced small
1/2 cup barley
3 chopped tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
the strained broth
Bring to a simmer and cook until barley is done, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve it with a salad and some crusty rolls and you have a nice meal to take off the chill of winter.