Recipe Swap: Homemade Manicotti

I recently decided to start participating in a recipe swap where bloggers share recipes and get assigned a recipe from another blogger to make.  There is a different theme for every exchange.  This time, the theme was Italian.  This was the first recipe exchange I participated in and I was a little nervous about not only sharing one of my recipes, but also about what I would receive. I was even more nervous when I saw the recipe I would be making-manicotti with homemade noodles from Tyler's Taste Tests.  I have made manicotti and other baked pastas plenty of times before but I had never made my own noodles-that task just seems daunting!

The noodles actually weren't that difficult to make, once you get a hang of it-the first one I made was a bit too small and the second one came out too thick but after that I think I did quite well :-)  The surprising thing was that once everything was cooked, they tasted exactly how you would expect manicotti to taste-and I thought this dish was really very good.  In hindsight, I also realized that making your own noodles really isn't much more work than making manicotti with premade noodles-I always find that after boiling those store- bought noodles, a lot of them end up falling apart and can't be used, and then it can be quite a pain to fill the prerolled noodles.  With this recipe, you roll the filling inside a crepe which is actually quite easy. 

I followed this recipe almost exactly, except that I had added some cooked spinach leaves to the filling because I really like spinach in my baked pastas and I used parmesan cheese instead of romano.  This time I used a jarred pasta sauce that I had on hand but I think next time I would like to use my homemade sauce.

Homemade Manicotti

Noodles:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk (I used skim)
3 eggs
dash of kosher salt

Filling
1 1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (plus additional for topping)
1 egg
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 cups spinach leaves (optional)
1 jar pasta sauce


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, milk, 3 eggs, and salt in a bowl until smooth.  Pour about 2-3 tablespoons into a hot greased skillet and spread to a 5 inch circle or smaller.  Cook over medium heat until set-do not brown.  The top will be slightly doughy.  Repeat with remaining batter, making about 18 crepes.  Stack crepes between wax paper and set aside.

Pour half of the sauce into an ungreased baking dish and set aside.

Saute the spinach with a dash of salt in an ungreased saute pan until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. 

For the filling, combine the cheeses, egg, parsley, and spinach.  Spoon about 3-4 tablespoons into each crepe.  Roll or fold up and place the crepes over the sauce.  Pour remaining sauce over the top.  Cover and bake for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese and serve.