Me and my manicotti

One of my all time favorite Italian dish is the delicious gooey, cheesy manicotti. Yumm. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! When I first made it a few years ago, I stuck to the basic, no-frills recipe. Over the last few years, it's gone through quite a few transformations and has evolved into what I like to think of as the ultimate cheese fest. So, if you're not a fan of cheese (yes, there are a few out there), then this recipe is most certainly not for you. But, if you're like me, and you've never met a cheese you didn't love, well then prepare yourself for the ultimate in cheesy heaven.

Three cheese manicotti

Some things I've learned along the way:
1. Always add a teaspoon or so of salt to the pasta cooking water. It flavors the pasta itself.
2. In the same vein, always cook pasta in a BIG pot. Cooking in a too-small pot will cause the pasta to clump together. The recommendation is that you need about 1.5 gallons of water for a pound of pasta.  If you're not sure how much water to use, always err on the side of caution.
3. Buy a chunk of parmesan instead of the already shredded version. Fresh parmesan is definitely a bit more expensive but it lasts longer and the taste difference is worth the extra few dollars.
4. Cilantro is incredibly sandy. Be sure to thoroughly wash it under cold, running water.

Ingredients
1 box of manicotti shells
Home made pasta sauce, recipe here
1 (15 ounce) container of whole milk ricotta cheese
2 cups of shredded, mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese, remember to use your microplane grater!
10-12 baby portabella mushrooms, diced
1 (10 ounce) packet of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
Salt and pepper, to taste 
1/4 cup of basil, chopped
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Pasta
Fill a big pot with plenty of water. Add a tablespoon of salt, cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Add the manicotti shells to the boiling water. Stir well and cook the pasta according to directions. <<side note: because the pasta is going to bake in the oven for a few minutes, cook it for a few minutes less on stove top so that it remains al dente.>>

Three cheese stuffing
While the pasta is cooking, let's prepare the manicotti stuffing.

In a large glass bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir in some freshly ground black pepper to taste and set aside while we prepare the spinach and mushroom for the stuffing.

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil on medium heat in a sautee pan. Add the diced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until the mushroom starts to wilt down a bit. Mix in a pinch of chopped basil and cilantro and transfer the mushroom to the ricotta mixture. In the same sautee pan, add a teaspoon of olive oil and add the thawed chopped spinach. The spinach is already cooked so you just want to heat it through for 5 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the spinach from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Transfer the spinach to the ricotta and mushroom mixture. Mix all the ingredients well and, if needed, add a pinch of salt. Set it aside to allow the ingredients to blend together.

Using a small spoon, scoop in the cheese, spinach and mushroom stuffing into the manicotti shells. Coat the bottom of a baking dish with some pasta sauce and line the stuffed manicotti on top. Once they're all lined up in the baking dish, pour the remaining pasta sauce on the pasta and cover with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Sprinkle with some  fresh basil and cilantro. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Enjoy!


Till next time, To Life!