You know those recipes we hold near and dear to our hearts because they are really the greatest ever of all time? Well, our Greatest Recipe of All Time series is where we wax poetic about them. Test kitchen manager Brad Leone's manicotti will soon become a classic in your Italian recipe repertoire. Here's why.
My dad makes this manicotti recipe every year for Christmas, and it’s a tradition that I always look forward to. We serve it (sauce on the side) as its own little course before salad, with meatballs and sausage! Yes, before salad.
Not only is the manicotti super delicious, but it gets the whole family in the kitchen, cooking together. And I'm not talking about boiling dried shells that you buy in the supermarket (though you can do that if you really have to). The pasta that we make is a traditional method similar to making crepes, that my father learned from his mother … and so on. It’s a very loose batter that leaves you with a tender and delicate round sheet used to wrap the filling. I have wonderful memories of my dad making these shells when I was a kid in New Jersey. He usually has 3 little nonstick skillets going, and like a one-man assembly line, he flips the crepes out onto the kitchen table that we’ve covered with towels for them to rest on. Back then, I wasn't allowed to touch them. When I was older, he finally showed me how it's done.
Are you ready? Start with 6 whole eggs and beat them with an electric mixer on high speed until they get really light and airy. The color will become light pale and the texture will be almost to the point of holding peaks; this takes 6–8 minutes. You really want to beat the eggs well, as this will make for a lighter manicotti shell. Once that is achieved, reduce your mixer speed to low and add 1¼ cups flour and ½ teaspoon salt a scoop at a time. Beat until the flour is mixed in well and not clumpy. With your mixer still on low, slowly pour in 1½ cups water and beat until well incorporated. Let the batter rest for a couple of hours or even overnight, covered, in the fridge.
Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. I use 2 Tbsp. batter per crepe, so pour that into the pan, then swirl the batter around to get an even, round shape. You have to work fast to shape the crepe, so swirl with confidence! Cooking time should be around 15–20 seconds. You only cook 1 side (never flip), and you’ll know it’s done when you carefully touch the top of the crepe in the pan and it’s not sticky. Keep in mind that making manicotti shells is like making pancakes—the first one or two aren’t the best. All good! It takes practice! Using a spatula, tap your perfected crepe out onto clean towels—whatever you do, do NOT stack them. Keep going until you’re out of batter (you should end up with a few extra, so pick the prettiest ones).
For the filling (which you can make a day ahead), place 1½ pounds ricotta, or “pot cheese,” as my dad calls it, in a large mixing bowl. Add 8 ounces grated mozzarella, 1 ounce grated Parm, and 2 egg yolks, then season with salt and pepper. Mix everything together really well. We always do half the batch with spinach, so at this point, I divide the batter in two and add chopped spinach to one batch. If you do take the spinach route, defrost a 10-ounce chopped spinach box and wring out as much water as you can in a rag or cheesecloth; the drier, the better. If you want to make the whole batch spinach (not a bad idea at all), well ... just use 2 packages of spinach.
To fill the manicotti, I use 2 Tbsp. filling per crepe. Spread the filling out in the center of the crepe as evenly as possible, making sure to go all the way to the ends. Roll the manicotti up; it shouldn’t be round like a rod but more rectangular, with a flat-ish top and bottom, around an inch and a half wide. Lightly pat them with your hands as you place them in the pan to flatten them out. LIGHTLY! Place them in a rectangle-shaped baking dish lined with a nice base of homemade tomato sauce … or your favorite store-bought sauce, if you must. Leave a tiny little gap in between each manicotti. Top with more sauce and cover with foil. Bake in a 350° oven until everything is nice and bubbly, about 45 minutes.
Let the manicotti rest in the baking dish for 15 minutes or so. I do this because they are better when allowed to cool a little and set up. Drizzle the top with good olive oil and serve more sauce alongside. A little freshly ground black pepper and grated Parm on top never hurt either!
