Manicotti - Aunt Mary's Recipe - Ricotta Stuffed Crepes (Crespelli)

These manicotti are made with crepes rather than pasta.  The crepes, called crespelli, are stuffed with ricotta cheese or a mixture of ricotta and spinach.  The egg crepes are made with water, not milk or cream, and are very light.  My aunt Mary got this recipe from relatives who were in the ricotta cheese business and my mother used to make these for holiday meals, especially at Easter.  This recipe makes between 14 and 24 manicotti depending on the size of the eggs, the skillet and whether you pour 1/4 or 1/3 cup of batter.  Today, with jumbo eggs, an 8-inch skillet with a 6-inch base and using 1/4 cup, I made 22 crepes.  Here is the recipe from my personal cookbook:

Place a clean bed-sheet on your kitchen table for the cooked crepes. Prepare 2 pounds of ricotta with 3 egg yolks, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and a good third of a cup of parmesan cheese. If adding spinach, wash and cook the spinach, then drain and squeeze all the water out and chop. The add the chopped spinach to the ricotta mixture.

The crepe batter is 8 whole eggs beaten with a scant teaspoon of salt.  Add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of flour a little at a time while whisking.

Heat two lightly oiled non-stick skillets over medium-low heat.  One should be about an 8-inch, the other larger (I use my trusty cast iron as the number 2 skillet).   Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the first skillet, and swirl the skillet to get the batter to spread evenly.

When the crepe begins to look dry on top (only a minute or two), flip the pan over the larger skillet so the crepe land on the flip side.

Flip the crepe

Re-oil the first pan.  By the time you pour the next crepe, side two of the first crepe is done and it's ready to flip onto your clean bed-sheet.  (Oh, figu miu, lenzuolo nun c'e bianco?*)

The crepes will have a "rubbery" texture and feel

Looks like  the lunar surface.  

I only had a little spinach to add along with the parmesan (or Romano) cheese.

Distribute the ricotta mixture evenly before rolling up the manicotti.

Fold the crepe over the filling and gently pull toward you to force the filling outward and into the "tube".

Continue rolling the crepe.  At this point they can be placed on a waxed-paper lined tray for freezing if you are not going to cook them all.

To prepare for the oven:  Place some sauce (your favorite tomato sauce or a béchamel) on the bottom of a baking dish.  Place the manicotti and add more sauce, grated parmesan or Romano and, if you like, mozzarella.  (Can anything with melted cheese be bad?)

Lesson: when food blogging, be sure to take a picture of the final result before going to it with fork and mouth.  Unfortunately, I missed the photo op.  Here is the best I could do with what I had to work with.  Served with Italian sausage, cooked in the sauce along with a side of broccoli rabe.

*I imagine my Italian grandmothers, aunts and mother all sitting around the kitchen table in heaven, observing my cooking escapades.  They have no comment about my skill in preparing manicotti, but are most upset because I didn't use a WHITE bed sheet to cover the table.

Allora, la cena e pronto.

Chicken Milanese

So what's the difference between Chicken Parmigiana and Chicken Milanese?  Is it lighter on the parmesan?  Is it the absence of tomato sauce?  Not sure, but it's good.

Slice the breasts

Dip in egg, then breadcrumb (skip the flour dredge)

Saute

Serve without tomato sauce

Pasta alla Carbonara con Portabella and a side of Broccoli Rabe

This will probably be the last post for a while...I won't be cooking while on vacation.

OK boys, before you start getting hung up on the Eye-talian words, how does pasta with bacon and eggs grab ya?  alla Carbonara means "Charcoal Maker's Style".  Now I don't know any charcoal makers, and we haven't used the stuff since getting a gas grill.  But supposedly these charcoal makers came home from work and all they had was a hunk of pancetta to go with their pasta.

The broccoli rabe is a bitter green vegetable with broccoli florets and leaves.  It is a type of broccoli but the strong flavor may not appeal to everyone.  I just saute garlic in olive oil (does it seem like 90% of my cooking begins with olive oil and garlic?) then toss in the broccoli rabe after cutting off the tough stems, with a little water and let it steam for a few minutes.  (This veggie goes good with Italian sausage).

Broccoli Rabe

Well,  back to the pancetta - the Italian "bacon" that is NOT smoked.  If you use smoked bacon, just forget it, I won't talk to you. This recipe is based on an old cookbook "the Romagnoli's Table" by Margaret and Franco Romagnoli where the Carbonara recipe is not adulterated with heavy cream like you find in many Italian restaurants.  Way too heavy on the stomach.  Margaret actually called for salt pork rather than pancetta because, when the book was written, you couldn't find pancetta anywhere in the USA outside of maybe New York or Chicago.  But, definitely use pancetta, it is delectable and salty, but not overly salty.  

Pancetta, sliced at the deli

Baby Portabella Mushrooms - sorry for the blurrrrr

I used the following for my Carbonara:

2-3 pieces of garlic
olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta, sliced and diced
1/4 pound Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
Fresh ground Black Pepper
13 oz box of Whole Grain Linguine
2 eggs beaten with a few grinds of black pepper added

Just added

Nicely cooked

Get your spaghetti pot of salted water on to boil. 

Put olive oil in the trusty cast iron skillet, add the garlic over high heat for a few minutes.
Add the pancetta and the mushrooms, saute until the pancetta begins to brown but not too crispy.
When the water boils, add the pasta (spaghetti is traditional, but I used "healthy" whole grain linguini) and cook until "al dente" according to the box directions.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, vigorously beat 2 eggs with some fresh ground pepper until foamy.

When the pasta is done, quickly drain and add the pasta while very hot to the bowl with the beaten eggs.  Toss IMMEDIATELY to "cook" the eggs with the hot pasta; add the pancetta and mushrooms with any oil from the pan and toss again, to coat the pasta with the "sauce".

Tossed

Serve with grated parmigiano reggiano.  Dinner's Ready!

FFC - Frank's Fried Chicken

Thanks to Russ at Blue Truck Red State, talking about KFC, I had a craving for some fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Shook up the chicken thighs in a bag with flour and a bunch of not-so-secret herbs and spices - maybe I was a little heavy on the 'blackened seasoning".  Fried in the trusty, not rusty, cast iron skillet.  Made mashed potatoes with the skins on, and some gravy with the pan scrapings, flour and chicken broth from a box.  Served with some oven-fried rutabaga strips.  Here's the finished product.

Wild Mushroom And Truffle Ravioli with Pancetta and Asparagus

Oh, I am getting SOooo LAZY!  Saw these in the Italian deli.  So they're not "homemade" from scratch.

But it was my idea to use the pancetta and asparagus.  Boiled the frozen Wild Mushroom and Truffle Ravioli.  Sautéed some pancetta in garlic olive oil with fresh ground black pepper, added the asparagus, until the veggies were cooked but still crisp.  Served it all over the ravioli with a little grated parmigiano reggiano.  Italian bread, a glass of vino bianco.  Cena e pronta!.

Salmon with Crusty Potato and Panko

NOTE: this is not a perfected recipe.  Took some left over oven roasted potatoes and crushed them up with panko bread crumbs and a little S&P. Covered the salmon pieces with the mixture and popped it into a hot oven until the potato/bread crumbs got nice and brown.  Served with broccoli and melted cheese sauce.  Not my finest, but very edible.

Boy Am I Getting Lazy

The pizza place we usually order from was apparently having trouble with their phone service or they went out of business since yesterday.  But no problem.  A few thick slices of Italian bread, a small can of Goya Tomato Sauce, left over sausages from the pasta dinner, a few slices of pepperoni and the last of the package of shredded mozzarella and voila! Bread Pizza.  'Nuf said. Dinner's Ready!

How Many Ways Can You Cook A Chicken

We eat a lot of chicken.  The market had whole chickens for 88 cents a pound this week.  I bought two.  The check I got from doing surveys was $6.80.  That paid for dinner.

Here is the bird with salt, pepper, lots of garlic and Rosemary from the sunroom, ready for the oven.

 Not the prettiest of meals, but tasty.  Oven potatoes and a yam.

Quick, simple, but repetitive.  I also made a big pot of chicken soup with bird 2.  Done that here before.  Goodness...Am I running out of ideas for Dinner's Ready? ... I think I may still have a few dishes I've not  posted yet....

Valentine's Day Breakfast - Panettone French Toast

Panettone is an (imported) Italian holiday bread with raisins and citron and has so much butter in it and wrapped so well that they will last for several weeks or more and still taste fresh. When our local discount outlet sells them after Christmas for $3.99, (I've seen them at the Italian market for $10 or more) I always buy a few for emergency sweet cravings.  This is partly why Leon and I have put on pounds.  As soon as these are used up, we are definitely going to lose weight.  There's logic in that statement somewhere, I'm sure...

I started using Panettone for French Toast and Bread Pudding before the Barefoot Contessa or Giada did on TV.  Slice the Panettone fairly thick, dip in scrambled egg/milk mixture (don't add sugar or vanilla) and make like French Toast in a skillet with butter.

Top with fresh fruit and a dusting of confectioner's sugar.  Breakfast is Ready! Happy Valentine's Day!

Vegetarian Onion Soup au Gratin

Start by listening to k.d. lang's rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying" while peeling and slicing about 2 1/2 pounds of onions. (about 8 cups, sliced longitudinally). This makes 4 to 6 servings of onions soup au gratin, depending on the size of your soup bowls and how much bread in the bottom.

 

 

Saute the onions in two batches or use two skillets. Use 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of olive oil for each batch.  Saute over high heat for as long as it takes to caramelize the onions.  When they are a nice golden brown with a little bit of almost burnt color, combine all the onions in one skillet, add 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine and 2 teaspoons of salt and simmer for a few minutes.

 

Transfer the onions to a soup pot or large sauce pan and add about 4 cups of water. Let simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes to an hour, adding a little water to maintain about 6-7 cups of soup.

Meanwhile, grate some cheese or buy some pre-shredded - about 2 to 4 ounces of cheese per bowl. Sharp Cheddar, Muenster and Swiss make a great combination for this soup. Or try some Gouda, Asiago, Jarlsberg, or other cheese of choice.

Place a piece of crusty French or Italian bread on the bottoms of four oven-safe soup bowls. Ladle about a cup and a half of the soup in each bowl, distributing the onions and the broth evenly so no one gets cheated. Put a good heavy layer of cheeses on top and place the bowls on cookie sheets and into a 400 degree oven. Wait 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese melts and starts to brown on top.

Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes - they will be HOT and the cheese will burn your mouth if you are too impatient. But really, can anything with melted cheese be bad?

While the soup cools, listen to k.d. lang again, then holler: Dinner's Ready!

Serve with nice white wine like Pinot Grigio or Soave or an Apple Cider, hard or sweet. With a salad, it's a meal in itself.