Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Crab and Ricotta Manicotti

We had Crab and Ricotta Manicotti the other night, and I found the recipe in Giada de Laurentiis's cookbook Everyday Pasta.  This was an easy recipe, and pretty tasty, and I like that the flavor was mild enough not to overwhelm the crab.  Aaron and Owen gave it a 7, Noah and I gave it an 8, and the calories for 1 roll were 236.  Also, béchamel sauce is just a white sauce, butter and flour to make a roux, and milk to make the sauce.  I used 4 T butter, 4 T flour, 4 c milk, and salt and pepper and I added a little onion powder.  Stir until thick, pour over rolls.
Here's the recipe:


Crab and Ricotta Manicotti

1 box manicotti pasta (about 12 shells), or an 8 oz box of cannelloni

1 c whole-milk ricotta cheese

¾ c grated Parmesan cheese, plus ¼ c for sprinkling

1 egg yolk

½ c chopped fresh basil

1 lb lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage

¼ t salt

¼ t pepper

Grease pan

Béchamel sauce

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.  Drain.

In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, ¾ c of the Parmesan, the egg yolk, basil, crab, salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter a 9x13 inch glass baking dish.

Fill the manicotti with the crab mixture and place in the prepared baking dish.  Top the filled manicotti with the béchamel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ c of Parmesan.  Bake until bubbly and the top is golden brown, 15-20 minutes.  Serve immediately.

3 comments:

  1. pretty good, although I prefer cold crab salad to hot crab dishes.

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  2. This sounds and looks heavenly. Your dad can eat ricotta cheese with tomato sauce; not sure of the bechamel. Love mom

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  3. I am going to try this one, using chicken stock rather than cream and see how it works. It looks so good. I made your enchiladas and another one and we both really like it. I am glad you are making my meals for me. Love mom

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