Manicotti Alla Romana

This is a new recipe to me.  I've had the manicotti pasta on hand for a while and decided during menu planning that it was time to 'use it'.  So, while this recipe doesn't recommend or even talk about doubling and freezing, that's my experiment.  I'm quite certain it will work because I frozen similar dishes with great results.  I am planning to change the recipe from the original I found online, so I can give you my ingredients and extended directions.  Please note that the ingredients are for a double batch and I do plan to freeze half.  This recipe is a bit time-consuming, so the double batch makes it more worthwhile for me.

FAMILY RATING:  *****

This recipe is soooo good.  For our family, one manicotti was enough for the three youngest.  Graham would have had enough with 1/2 or 3/4 of a manicotti, but I dished him without thinking.  He ate it anyway (I'm sure he's stuffed!) because the Cookie Cake Dessert was enticing.  I served the main dish with vegetables, so there should be enough left for dinner/lunch tomorrow, as long as I supplement with veggies or garlic toast. 

Manicotti Alla Romana (Doubled)
Yield: 14 servings (7 large adult servings per dish)

Ingredients:

2 Tbls. Olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

6 cloves minced garlic

2 lbs. ground beef

Sea Salt to taste

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained*

2 – 15oz. containers Ricotta Cheese

2 eggs, beaten

6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided

4 Tbls. Butter

4 Tbls. All purpose flour
4 Tbls. Beef bouillon
4 cups half & half
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbls. Chopped fresh basil
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent. Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Stir in ground beef. Cook until well browned. Season with sea salt and set aside.

2. Cook spinach according to package directions.

3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add manicotti tubes and parboil for half the recommended time on the package. Drain and cover with cool water to stop the cooking process and prevent cracking.

4. To the ground beef, add the cooked spinach and ricotta cheese. When the mixture is cooled, add beaten eggs. Spread 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of each 9x13 inch pan. Gently drain the manicotti tubes and carefully stuff each one with meat and cheese mixture. I put the mixture in a Ziploc storage bag, cut the corner and squeezed the mixture into the tubes. Place half the pasta in each pan. Cover with a damp cloth to prevent cracking.

Meat and ricotta cheese mixture (above).

13x9 pans prepared with 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce.

Meat and ricotta cheese mixture in a ziploc bag and ready for squeezing into the manicotti tubes.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. Prepare the white sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and beef bouillon. Increase heat to med-high and cook while stirring constantly, until it begins to bubble. Stir in ½ & ½ and bring to a boil, stirring constantly (a whisk works best). Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Ladle half the sauce over manicotti in each pan.

7. Stir the basil into the remaining spaghetti sauce. Ladle half the sauce over the white sauce in each pan. Try to layer the sauces without mixing.

Manicotti tubes are filled and placed in 13x9 pans (above).  Ready for baking or for freezing (below).

8. Cover aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered another 10 minutes.


Freezing Directions: 
After layering the sauces on the second pan, cover with plastic wrap and with a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. If you prefer, you can even measure the parmesan cheese into a baggie and freeze between the plastic wrap and foil. Label with the following instructions: Thaw completely in frig (this may be more than overnight). Remove plastic wrap and recover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees, or until done. Remove from the oven, uncover and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered another 10 minutes.

*If you decide not to double, it’s okay to use a full 10 oz. package of frozen spinach per ‘batch’.

An Additional Note:  I used a gallon size freezer bag, but it may be more manageable to use a quart sized bag.

And, a confession ... I forgot to add the eggs to the meat and cheese mixture!  However, the dish was still delicious and no one but me knew about the omission.