Manicotti with Spinach Crespelle
A perfect Spring dish for a special meal or holiday!
Ingredients
Crespelle (crepes)
- 4 Large Eggs
- 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted 40g
- 2 3/4 cups AP Flour 250g
- 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups Whole or 2% Milk 300 - 400 ml
- 1/3 cup Blanched or Frozen Spinach
- Pinch of Salt
Bechamel
- 2 1/2 cups Whole or 2% Milk
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 2 tbsp AP Flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Grated Nutmeg
- 1/4 cup Grated Parmigiano
Ricotta Filling
- 1 1/2 lbs Whole Milk Ricotta, drained
- 4 slices Deli Ham
- 4 oz Fresh Mozzarella
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/3 cup Grated Parmigiano
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
DAY BEFORE INSTRUCTIONS!
- The night before you are going to make this recipe, place the ricotta onto a strainer with a cheese cloth. Place it over a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it drain overnight in the refrigerator. Honestly, I prefer to do it for two days if you have the time.
Crespelle
- Melt the butter for the crespelle.
- To a blender add eggs, spinach and milk. Blend until smooth.
- Then add flour and a pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Add in the cooled melted butter and pulse a few times.
- Using an 8 in. nonstick pan on medium heat, add a little less than 1/4 cup of batter to the pan and immediately start tilting the pan to spread the batter out thin into a circle as far as it will go. Let it cook until it start to bubble and then flip it over and let it cook on the other side for a 1 - 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and place in parchment paper. Stack the crespelle as you go so they don't curl up on the edges.
- This can be done the day before and placed into a ziplock bag so that don't dry out. Refrigerate until you need them.
Bechamel
- Warm your milk in the microwave for about a minute and a half.
- To a small pot, add butter to melt, once melted add the flower and whisk vigorously so that no lumps form. Once the flour has cooked for a couple of minutes, slowly add in warm milk.
- Keep whisking until all the milk has been added. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Then switch to a wooden spoon and cook on medium heated stirring continuously until the mixture has thicken about 4-5 mins.
- Once thickened, add in the grated cheese and turn off the heat. Stir until the cheese has melted into the sauce. Set aside until assembly.
- Follow my Basic Sunday sauce recipe here for the tomato sauce.
Filling & Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Prep your ingredients for the filling by dicing the ham and mozzarella very small. You can also grade the Parmigiano so that you have everything ready when it’s time to mix.
- To make the filling, place the ricotta into a large bowl along with the ham, mozzarella, grated parmigiano, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste the filling before you add the egg to make sure that the salt is exactly how you like it.
- Then add the beaten egg and mix well.
- To a 9 x 12 baking pan, add a little bit of tomato sauce and drizzle of the béchamel sauce.
- Take a crespelle and add about two heaping tablespoons of filling to the center, roll it up and place it seam side down into the baking dish. Continue until you run out of crespelle or filling! Hopefully you will have the perfect amount, but you know how it goes with these things!
- Top with tomato sauce and béchamel. Grate parmigiana on top as well and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400℉ for 45 mins, uncover and place under the broiler for a few minutes to brown.