Manicotti (On Steroids)

Manicotti ready to bake

If you're like me where playing in the kitchen is concerned, you'll relate to this, if not, you may think I'm nuts until you taste this! If I haven't mentioned it before, I am not a fan of ricotta or cottage cheese for that matter. It's totally a texture thing. I take a lot of heat about that with family who feel like an Italian not liking ricotta is like an Irishman not liking whiskey. Thankfully for my 1/4 Irish heritage I do love a good whiskey, so no worries there. So with my distaste for ricotta, I tolerate ravioli, traditional stuffed shells, and manicotti -- mostly to be polite.

So here's a challenge, I love making manicotti crepes; the recipe couldn't be more simple and with a good pan they are just fun to make. SO what's a girl to do? I decided to develop a recipe for the shells that didn't use ricotta, and from that trip down the rabbit hole this recipe was born.

Picture this, a breakfast sausage sized and shaped Italian meatball wrapped in a slice of fried eggplant, wrapped in a slice or mozzarella, wrapped in a tender manicotti shell, baked in a sea of gravy smothered in shredded and grated cheeses.

Again, if you're like me, this is wicked fun to prepare and assemble. Let's start with the crepes because most of the other elements are addressed in other recipes already posted.

Manicotti Shells (Crepes)

Makes 12 shells:

1 C milk

1 C beaten eggs

1 C flour

Combine all into a batter. You can use a hand mixer, but a blender works great. Note that the batter should be significantly thinner than pancake batter so that it pours and 'swirls' easily in the pan.

Heat fajita or 7"or 8" heavy frying pan

Depending on whether your pan is stick resistant like Calphalon or a well seasoned cast iron, you may want to brush a tad of olive oil before pouring the batter in the pan.

Using a 1/4C ladle or measuring cup, pour batter into the pan and tip to spread it out nice and thin

Turn the crepe after it sets and remove from the pan after a few seconds.

I place the cooked crepes on a plate between pieces of waxed paper until I'm ready to use freeze them for later use.

NOTE: If you've never made crepes before, you might want to practice and make extra batter. I routinely lose one or two to the pan -- mostly because I'm to impatient to let the pan get hot enough.

THE RECIPE:

12 manicotti crepes

12 cooked meatball 'links'

12 slices of mozzarella

12 slices of fried eggplant (use the basic recipe, cut the eggplant thin and feel free to skip the bread crumbs)

12 C red gravy

1 -2 C combined shredded / grated Parmesan, Romano, Mozzarella cheeses combination

a pan or pans to allow for a single layer or manicotti

Shape the meatball mix into small breakfast sized sausage shapes for easy assembly

Lay out the crepes and put a slice of mozzarella toward one edge of each

Wrap the meatball links in a slice of eggplant and place at the end of the crepe opposite from where the cheese slice sits

Roll the crepe from the end where the eggplant / meatball link is toward the cheesy end. (this will help the manicotti stay closed as the cheese will melts and binds the shell to itself)

spread gravy in the bottom of your pan(s)

carefully place the manicotti in a single layer and spread more gravy on top

Sprinkle with your selected combination of cheeses

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees