Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Cheese Manicotti

Sorry - again - for my lack of posts/recipes lately. I've been in town ... just not cooking as much as I'd like! Please stick with me though; I promise it will get better soon!

This recipe is one I grew up eating, and it's sort of a comfort food to me. And, it's an Italian meal, which I adore. I tend to gravitate towards the delicious combo of pasta and cheese!

Again, I don't have a photo because (let's all say it together) we ate it too fast and by the time I remembered all I had left on my plate were a few blobs of marinara sauce. But y'all know what manicotti looks like, right? I paired this with garlic bread and a salad (with my favorite Italian dressing - Good Seasons - the mix that you combine with oil, red wine vinegar and water).

Delizioso!

Cheese Manicotti
Recipe passed down to my mom from a dear family friend, Mamie Coffey
8 oz. (2 cups) diced or shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Marinara sauce (I use a whole jar store-bought sauce for this recipe)
Approximately 8-10 uncooked manicotti noodles

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Mix the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour a small amount of marinara sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking dish. Fill uncooked manicotti noodles with cheese mixture and place in dish on top of marinara sauce. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the cheese-filled noodles. Top with extra Parmesan cheese, if desired. Cover dish with foil and bake, covered, for approximately 45 minutes (at 350 degrees).

1 comment:

  1. It is so easy to cook chicken in the crockpot! Just turn it on and walk away. You'll need a good 6 hours on high if it's frozen, 4 if it's defrosted. I even cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot in about 6-7 hours, and it was frozen. It's the best way to cook chicken for soups and such because it shreds so easily.

    Whole chicken:
    Rub with salt and pepper. I've even rubbed with a spice mix I found online for cooking a whole chicken. Place in crockpot on top of sliced onions. Add lemons, oranges, etc for citrus chicken. No need to add broth or water, the chicken makes its own. Cook on high 6-7 hours. Be careful when you take it out- it will fall apart on you!

    We eat the cooked chicken one night, then use the rest for chicken salad, soups, or sandwiches. Even a small chicken lasts a long time!

    Easy chicken crockpot recipe:
    2-3 chicken breasts
    1 can cream of mushroom soup- cream of celery or chicken if you don't like mushrooms
    1 can chicken broth or white wine
    1 can mushrooms

    Pour the soup and wine/broth on top of the chicken breasts in the crockpot. Add mushrooms, if you like. Cook 3-4 hours on high, 6-7 on low. Serve on top of rice. This recipe also works well with pork chops.

    Save the broth if you cook chicken by itself. It's great to freeze in 1/2 c or 1 c packages to use for later, instead of buying chicken stock.

    ReplyDelete

 
Site Meter