Manicotti with Rosemary infused Marinara

My dear mother in law introduced me to the Italian tradition of having a pasta dish at Christmas time BEFORE the main dish.. !!! To most of us it seems insane, but as I have birthed most of my sons with this understanding, I too have taken on this lovely tradition and simply expect it to take many hours to finish a meal at holiday time!!
My kids were trying to decide ravioli or Manicotti, and since I purchased the ricotta in bulk at a wonderful local shop, I had to use it and made Manicotti a few days later and took a few trays with me to California for New Years celebrations in 2010 to try to help my wonderful cousin with all of the cooking she does when we are there.

I recently planted fresh rosemary in my garden and felt like using it for the sauce, hence the name.... Easy, cheap, of course a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort!!! And can be frozen if you make extras!

Thank you Char for letting me post this!!
xxoo



Serves 12


Ingredients


10 Large Eggs
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 Tsp of Sea Salt
2 1/2 cups water
2 medium cans of diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
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0onion finely diced
5 cloves of minced garlic
3 fresh spriggs of rosemary
olive oil
Italian seasoning
1/2 cup red wine ( what ever you would drink)
Sea Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
A handful of fresh Basil
Fresh oregano
12 oz fresh ricotta cheese
4 oz shredded mozzerella
1 cup thickly grated parmesean cheese
Garlic bread
Mixed salad


Prepare

 Cheese
* Put your ricotta, mozzarella and 2 tsp of Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste into a bowl and mix it and put in fridge

 Sauce
*In a medium sized pot add a splash of olive oil and add your onion and garlic, cook until soft over medium heat
* Add your diced tomatoes and tomato paste, stir
* Add your wine and stir
* Add your fresh rosemary , oregano and salt and pepper
* Turn heat down to simmer and cook until the Manicotti is ready to be assembled

 Crepes
*Whisk together in a mixer or by hand your eggs, flour, salt and slowly add your water alittle at a time until the mixture is smooth
* Get a small pan and put on high heat with a little butter in the pan
* Add about 1/8 of a cup of your mixture and swirl around to create a crepe

* When it bubbles like a pancake, flip it
* Place on a plate after other side is cooked, repeat until mixture is gone adding butter to your pan every other crepe


*Turn oven on to 325 degrees
* Prepare 2 long baking dishes by adding a small amount of sauce to the bottom
* Assemble your Manicotti by adding about 2 1/2 Tbs of ricotta mixture to a crepe, roll it and place into baking dish

 

* Carry on this way until you finish your crepes, you should have about 24

* Cover with sauce and bake about 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly

* Serve with a sprinkling of parmesean cheese, garlic bread and a simple salad

*You can freeze extras simply by letting the Manicotti cool to room temp and then cover with foil and freeze, removing the day before you want to eat and defrosting in the fridge over night..

Can also be a starter to a meat meal!!! 

Wine Suggestion- Zweigelt