Disaster Strikes! - Homemade Manicotti

Happy Memorial Day! What a beautiful day it has been, despite the fact it started at 5:45 am :) It was well worth it! The Banks family participated for the 2nd year in the Bolder Boulder, the 2nd largest 10k race in the country, with 55,000 runners/walkers. At 27 weeks pregnant, my momma and I clocked in at just under 2 hours ... we did good, especially considering that daggon hill at the end! 

A workout like that requires a superstar dinner, especially because "lunch" came from the goodie bags we earned, consisting of 2 bags of Boulder potato chips, a bag of fruit snacks and a fruit bar. I KINDA snuck in some McDonald's fries and a sweet tea on the way home (and enjoyed every single fry). So ... after playtime with D, and nap time for me ... it was onward and forward to the TRUE challenge of the day... homemade manicotti (including noodles). 

I was a little concerned about how all this would turn out, but the "noodles" actually weren't TOO terrible to make, and actually quite a bit quicker than boiling a huge pot of water and cooking boxed noodles. The noodles were actually a crepe mix, to be filled with a ricotta mixture and baked with sauce. I was cooking my last few noodles, and as they were frying I started to make the filling ... only to find my container of ricotta cheese was covered in "fur", a whole 2 weeks before the expiration date! I was devastated. It WAS going to be SO good! 

However. The upside. I got to eat the last of the leftovers of the Creamy Summer Chicken Pasta! Teeeheehee. 

The recipe below is one that I used for the noodles and would have used for the filling, with the addition of some garlic, roasted red pepper, basil and oregano for some more flavor. I can't say how it would have turned out, but because I am simply amazing!, I can guess it would have been delicious. Enjoy! 

Noodles: 

1.5 C all purpose flour

1 C milk

1/2 t salt

3 eggs

Filling: 

1.5 lbs ricotta cheese

1 C shredded cheese of choice (romano?)

1 egg

herbs as desired

1 jar pasta sauce

Directions: Whisk together all noodle ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a lightly oiled pan, drop 2 T of batter into the pan to create a 5" circle and fry until set ... do not flip. Seperate finished noodles by sheets of wax paper so as not to make them stick. 

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together filling ingredients. Spread half a jar of your favorite pasta sauce in the bottom of your pan. Drop 2-3 t of filling into the center of each noodle and wrap. Place crease side into the pasta sauce. Use remaining sauce to cover the noodles, and if desired top with more cheese! Cover and bake for 20 minutes, uncover and bake for a remaining 20 minutes ... sprinkle with even more cheese and enjoy!