Take-out & Stuffed Manicotti

January is always a rough month for me as I'm burnt from the holiday preparations and entertaining combined with the after effects of the dull, grey days of November. It is one of the few months where finding the motivation to cook can be a challenge. Thank goodness for the food channel! With the holiday hustle out of the way, our holiday quickly approaching and bulk beef on the way, the main goal is eating from the freezers. So I'm doing an all out of using foods from the freezer for each meal but Saturday we deviated from that for dinner by ordering out. Sunday I was back into cooking mode!

Ordered-in Food

We all have those days when take-out or ordered-in food makes a perfect meal. For us that works out to once or twice a month. Our only ordered-in food tends to be a large pizza with 2 lb wings with take-out being Chinese. The pizza is usually half one kind of topping and half the another. The wings come with a option for different sauces so we always get medium hot and honey garlic sauce. Now, this doesn't mean that we can't sit down to a nice meal. There are times when we eat the pizza out of the box but most times it is plated to be enjoyed as any other meal. I usually make some kind of salad while waiting for delivery. More often than not the salad is left-overs from the night before as it was Saturday night when we ordered in.


Stuffed Manicotti

There is an endless possibility for pasta dishes. Stuffed manicotti takes more prep work but the results are well worth it. You can stuff manicotti with anything you want but usually a meat, cheese and vegetable mixture is used. Once stuffed the manicotti is topped with tomato sauce and cheese then baked.

Trust me on this one, unless you use a piping method you will get your hands dirty on this prep. I stuff the manicotti using a spoon. It works nicely if you work slowly. I used a pork, cheese and spinach mixture to stuff the manicotti then topped with roasted tomato sauce and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Served with a simple salad sprinkled with lemon juice and cheese 'n' onion bread it made for a nice meal.

Stuffed Manicotti
edited January 14, 2007 - forgot the spinach!

pasta:
1 250 g package manicotti
water
dash of oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

filling:
1 ½ lb ground pork
1 tbsp bacon fat
½ medium onion, chopped fine
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp crushed oregano
½ tsp dried thyme
1 c grated mozzarella cheese
2 c ricotta cheese
dash fresh ground pepper
1 ½ c steamed spinach, chopped
2 eggs slightly beaten

topping:
2 500 ml jars roasted tomato sauce (or tomato sauce of your choice)
½ c Parmigiano Reggiano
½ c mozzarella cheese

Brown the ground pork in the bacon fat. Drain and set aside. Steam the spinach, chop and set aside. Chop onion and stir in spices, cheeses and eggs. Mix well into the ground beef. Stir in the spinach.

Bring the water, salt and oil to boil in a large sauce pan. Stir in the manicotti. Cook until just flexible. Drain. Spoon filling into the manicotti. Place manicotti into a large baking pan. Pour roasted tomato sauce over the manicotti. Sprinkle cheeses over the sauce. Cover with tin foil and bake 180ºC (350ºF) for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove from oven. Garnish with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.