Pantry MD

I can’t believe the number of posts that I have written so far and not one Italian dish.  Being Italian by marriage, you would think I would have a pasta dish of some nature here by now.  I have learned a lot about the Italian culture and food traditions in the past ten years of being with my husband.  Ten years tomorrow, from our first date to be exact.  Amazing how time flies!  My first Christmas with my husband’s family, I learned to pace myself at their dinners.  We had more appetizers than I have ever seen, a first course of ravioli with meat sauce, second course of prime rib, potatoes, carrots, green beans, salad, bread and never ending desserts.  I don’t think I was hungry for a week after that first dinner. 

My mother-in-law is an incredible cook.  Everything she makes tastes great and I have enjoyed all of the little tricks I have learned from her.  One thing she taught me, was to use the food processor for the onions and celery to make sugo because she didn’t like the way I chopped the onions.  My sauce has been better and easier to make, but I am still waiting for her to come over and teach me the secret of making her sugo taste so good.  She gave me her recipe but no matter how many times I have made it, the flavor does not compare to hers.  Maybe it is all of those years of experience in the kitchen or the fact that things always taste better when someone else makes it.  Regardless, it is a great sauce and makes nice big batch.

Manicotti is a great dish to make if you need to feed a crowd or would like to make dinner ahead of time.  It feels like a very indulgent dish but the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses are naturally quite low in fat and high in protein.  Nonna G’s mushroom sugo is vegetarian but you can easily turn it into an amazing meat sauce by adding some browned ground beef to it.  You can make one dish of manicotti with meat sauce and one with vegetarian, that way everyone is happy and the no one feels like you went out of your way to create a meal especially for them.  

*Note:  The sugo has to cook for 3 hours.  It is best to make on a day when you will be around although it will keep for a week in the refrigerator or freezes very well.  I make a pot of this about once a month and then freeze it in small batches.  I use it for pasta, polenta, and in my vegetable soups.

Recipe: for the manicotti (serves 8-10)

• 1 box dry manicotti shells
• 1- 32 oz container part skim ricotta
• 2 cups part skim mozzarella, grated
• 1 bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 T fresh basil, sliced (or dried italian herbs)

Method:  (lightly oil 2- 9X13 dishes)

1. In a large pot, boil manicotti according to directions and drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, mix remaining ingredients.
3. Stuff each shell with filling and place in a baking dish.  Spoon sauce over shells, maybe a cup and a half per dish).  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
4. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, uncover and bake another 10 minutes.

Nonna G’s Sugo Recipe:

• 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large carrot
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch sprig fresh rosemary
• 2 small fresh sage leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
• 2 cans (28 oz each) crushed tomatoes
• 1 (2 inch) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind
• 1 small dried red chili pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Method: (makes 10 cups of sauce)

1. Place porcini in a glass bowl, cover barely with boiling water; set aside.
2. In a food processor combine onions, carrot and celery.  Pulse several times until they are all finely chopped.
3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute vegetable mixture and garlic in olive oil.  Add herbs and continue cooking until vegetables are soft. 
4. While vegetables are cooking, place mushrooms in the food processor (reserve soaking liquid), process mushrooms until finely chopped; set aside. 
5. Pour red wine into the pan and cook until reduced.  Stir in the tomato sauce, tomatoes, chili pepper, mushrooms, soaking liquid (all but last bit of gritty material) and Parmesan rind.  Cover and simmer slowly for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add salt to taste and fresh ground pepper, remove chili pepper.  Stir in some fresh basil if you have it.