HOMEMADE MANICOTTI STUFFED WITH PROSCIUTTO AND RICOTTA! YUMMY!!

Homemade Manicotti Stuffed With Prosciutto and Ricotta! Yummy!! image

This recipe is so easy, once you prepare it, you will never buy store bought shells again! Preparing the crepes and filling them yourself isn't as hard as it seems. Once you make this recipe you will never buy those store bought shells ever! You can take the Prosciutto out and make the filling with just the cheese. You can even fill the crepes with any other kind of filling you make. Experiment and make different fillings with an assortment of cheeses, vegetables or seafood! This recipe makes alot of Manicotti. Alot of times i will make extra Manicotti and after rolling them, I place them on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer till they are frozen. I then transfer them into a ziplock freezer bag and they can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then when you want to cook them, all you do is layer sauce on the bottom of your pan, place the frozen Manicotti on top of the sauce, cover them with more sauce, cover with foil tightly and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1hr. take the foil off and cover with shredded Mozarella and bake till melted. Delicious! Enjoy and remember to experiment with your own fillings!....I also use store bought Marinara sauce if I don't have my own on hand.

Provided by ItalianMomof2

Categories One Dish Meal

Time 1h50m

Yield 8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 14

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Ingredients

2 quarts marinara sauce
2 lbs whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 lb prosciutto (rough chopped)
3 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon fresh pepper
3 eggs
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
non stick Pam cooking spray
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Steps:

Crepes.
In either a blender or mixing bowl mix together the Eggs and Water first. Add flour into this slowly till smooth. Put in refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour. (this can be made a day before to save on time).
While the crepe mixture is resting, start on the filling.
In a large bowl mix together the Ricotta, Pecorino Romano cheese, Mozarella, Prosciutto,Basil, Parsley, Eggs and Pepper. Mix till all ingredients are incorporated. Cover and put in refrigerator till needed.
After the Crepe Mixture has rested for 1/2 hour you can start to prepare them. I use an 8" non stick fry pan. You can use one of them or a crepe pan. Just make sure it's non stick. Very important!
Heat the pan on medium heat. Once heated spray with Pam till bottom and sides are covered.
Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan and swirl and tilt till the bottom of the pan is covered evenly. Return to burner. (if you think you need more or less mixture in the pan adjust accordingly. You want a thin even layer on the bottom of your pan).
Let it cook till the top of the crepe appears dry. when you first put the mixture in the pan, the top is "wet" looking, slowly it will start to look "dry". Once it's all dry, take a butter knife or spatula and slide under the crepe and flip over. cook for 5 seconds more.
The crepe should slide out of the pan onto your surface. I put a sheet of aluminum foil on my counter and as I made the crepes i just slide them out onto the foil till they cool. Once cooled you can arrange them on the foil so they overlap each other.
Spray you pan again with Pam and make another crepe. Do this till all the batter is gone. This recipe makes approx 16-20 crepes.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Take a Baking pan (13x9 or larger) and cover the bottom with sauce.
To assemble the crepe, place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the crepe and roll it up. place them seam side down in the pan.
Continue doing that till the pan is full. Based on what size pan you use, that will determine how many you can get in the pan. Any extra Manicotti that you roll that doesn't fit in the pan can be frozen and kept in a freezer bag for at least 3 months. In the description above I tell you how to recook them.
Once the pan is full, put another layer of sauce on top of the stuffed Manicotti till they are all covered.
Cover pan tightly in foil.
Place in 325 degree pre-heated oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Take foil off and sprinkle the remaining cup of shredded Mozarella evenly on the top.
Put back in oven till cheese melts. (approx 5-10 minutes).
take out of oven and let rest about 10 minutes and Enjoy!
Serve with a nice salad and a warm loaf of Italian bread and you have a great meal!