Active Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time
2 hours
It just wouldn't be a holiday without my mom preparing a pasta course, whether it precedes the turkey at Thanksgiving or follows antipasti at Easter. My mom's manicotti recipe (which comes from her Italian mother), feeds our immediate family of 40, but I've scaled it down to feed a smaller group of 6. The tender manicotti wrappers are made by quickly cooking a batter to form a pastalike crêpe.
Ingredients
6 main-course servings
For sauce
For crêpes
For filling
Special Equipment
Preparation
Make sauce:
Step 1
Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, water, sugar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in basil and remove from heat.
Make crêpes:
Step 2
Break up eggs with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl and stir in water until combined (don't beat). Sift in flour and salt, then stir batter until just combined. Force through a medium-mesh sieve into another bowl.
Step 3
Lightly brush an 8-inch nonstick skillet with melted butter and heat over moderate heat until hot. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter into skillet, tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom, then pour excess batter back into bowl. (If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly for next crêpe.) Cook until underside is just set and lightly browned, about 30 seconds, then invert crêpe onto a clean kitchen towel to cool completely. Make at least 11 more crêpes in same manner, brushing skillet with butter as needed and stacking crêpes in 3 piles.
Make filling and assemble manicotti:
Step 4
Stir together ricotta, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Step 5
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
Step 6
Cut mozzarella lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick sticks.
Step 7
Spread 2 cups sauce in larger baking dish and 1 cup in smaller one. Arrange 1 crêpe, browned side up, on a work surface, then spread about 1/4 cup filling in a line across center and top with a mozzarella strip. Fold in sides to enclose filling, leaving ends open, and transfer, seam side down, to either baking dish. Fill 11 more crêpes in same manner, arranging snugly in 1 layer in both dishes (8 in larger dish and 4 in smaller). Spread 1 cup sauce over manicotti in larger dish and 1/2 cup in smaller dish. Tightly cover dishes with foil and bake until sauce is bubbling and filling is hot, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve remaining sauce on the side.
Manicotti can be assembled (but not baked) 1 day ahead and chilled, covered with foil. Chill remaining sauce, covered, separately. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before baking, covered with foil. Reheat sauce, thinning slightly with water.
Leave a Review
Reviews (36)
Back to TopI made this a year or so ago and the crepes put this in a class all by itself! It's truly the best manicotti I've ever had and am making this again on New Year's Eve! Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe, I will cherish this always!
Vickie Davis
Seattle, Was.
12/28/2021
Brava! Amazing that this is almost identical to my mom's recipe--crepes and all. Mama used a meat sauce (mostly pork and beef but not a trace of "ground meat") and basil. Other than that difference, this is the same stuff. Legendary.
duspin
Boston, MA
3/25/2021
Amazing! A huge family hit! It took all afternoon to make it, and it was worth it.
elliy
Seattle, WA
4/11/2020
I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I’ve made it a few times and for someone who was never good at cooking, my family was pleasantly surprised ! Is there any way I can get the recipe for 40 people?! I’m making it for thanksgiving 🥰
Bootlegger_23
Jersey City New Jersey
11/19/2019
This pretty much is the same recipe I have always used. Yesterday, I was trying to make the decision between store bought pasta, because I just didn't relish the thought of making the crepes. When I saw the price of the manicotti tubes, I decided on the homemade crepes. Besides being economical, it is well worth the effort. The crepes take the dish over the top. Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness Blog
ladyfish65
Rochester, NY
3/31/2018
I made this recipe as written with one exception. I used the one can of Italian tomatoes it called for and had to use one can of organic diced fire roasted tomatoes because that is what I had in pantry. It was delicious, I will make again. My question is, can I make a pan unbaked and freeze it for a later date?
Crewton
Pittsburgh, PA
3/4/2018
This was fantastic, my husband wouldn't stop talking about it during dinner. I am a serial recipe changer, but for this one the only thing I did was add a small shallot because all I had was a very small onion, and I deglazed the pot with 1/4 C of white wine when making the marinara. I let the crepes really get good and brown, and I found I had to leave the dish in the oven a bit longer (almost 40 min), since I used one bigger dish than suggested. I will make this again, but it did produce a lot of food, so make sure you have a crowd to feed.
asholady
New Orleans, Louisiana
2/15/2018
Don't be intimidated by the crepes: the instructions were really easy to follow and they are amazing! I made this for my husband's birthday; he loves manicotti and was really impressed I made an entire from-scratch version. While he prefers the firmer texture of the standard dried manicotti, I now prefer the texture of the crepe. I was worried the sauce and filling may be under seasoned but the flavors work well together, and the mozzarella stick in the manicotti provides a nice full flavor. I did not follow the baking instructions verbatim, and instead had 10 manicotti in one oversized stoneware. Next time I will bake a bit longer than the suggested time if I over-fill the dish, as they were cooked through but not hot on the inside. As with other reviewers, I found I had more filling than crepes so next time I will make more of those as well.
mogde
Santa Barbara, CA
3/7/2017
I love this recipe, I¿ve made it 3-4 times in the last year. Crepes make wonderful manicotti. However, I find the amounts significantly off. For one, 2 lbs ricotta is more than 3 cups, but even just using 3 cups gives more filling than will go in 12. If using the given amount of filling per manicotti, I can easily get 16 or more. Unfortunately I tend to forget this each time. And they freeze well after assembly but before cooking. Next time I¿ll increase the crepe batter to make more. Also, as given, my batter always seems too thick so I thin it down with more water.
mikec1952
havana, il
9/20/2015
This is a delicious recipe. I did make a couple of changes, however. I did not make my own crepes, but relied on the Prince Family to make them for me. I also made it a four cheese Manicotti, using 2 cups of Ricotta, and one cup of Plain Goat Cheese, Parmesana-Romana as directed and 6 oz. of Mozzarella. I used Miur Glen Crushed Tomatoes in the sauce. They are my personal favorite. Although I have found Silver Palate Tomato Sauce a tasty and quite reasonable substitute. The Manicotti was fantastic.
br655231947
Boston
10/31/2013
This was super delicious. We find Ricotta on its own to have a lot less flavor than we prefer so we used 1 part Ricotta, 1 part Mozzarella and 1/2 part grated Parmigiana-Reggiano. The crepes had a great flavor and texture - I'm glad we used those instead of pasta. We also browned some ground veal and added it to the crepe stuffing. I did find it needed a bit more salt than the recipe calls for - but I guess as always salt to taste. I've been thinking all day of family and friends I want to make this for. Delish!
Anonymous
Atlanta, GA
1/7/2013
My husband loved this dish! I didn't have time to make crepes, so I used store bought pasta. I used a good quality block of parmesan that I grated myself and whole milk mozzarella (not the fresh one from the deli section). It was still delicious. Sauce was a tad too sweet for my taste, but I will definitely make again. I also had some sauce leftover that I will use for something else.
mbmcmillan
little rock, ar
1/26/2011
THIS LOOKS ALOT LIKE THE RECIPE THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WHO IS FROM PALAMO USED TO MAKE -
khti3340
NEW YORK CITY
11/22/2010
Because some reviewers thought this was a bit bland, I made a few changes before trying it, and we thought these turned out very well: (1) spiced up the sauce by adding Italian seasoning,fresh ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and a little bit of red wine instead of the water;(2) replaced some of the ricotta with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano and put more of the latter in, anyway; (3) put fresh grated parmesan on top before baking.
Anonymous
Olympia, WA
5/30/2010
First, the crepes are work, but so worth it. They taste wonderful. Second, with the parsley and basil in the garden already coming up strong, and the local tomatoes about to rock (replace some of the canned with fresh), this is so *not* a holiday-only recipe Other than firing up the oven during a hot summertime, the core flavors totally come together with summer.
mrbill05
7/15/2009
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