Baked Ground Beef and Ricotta Crepe Manicotti (Crespelle)
Forget everything you think manicotti is. This manicotti recipe is courteous of my mother-in-law and it's as authentic as manicotti can get. Homemade Italian crepes (crespelle) are wrapped around a creamy, rich spinach and ricotta cheese filling and covered with a blanket of the best red meat sauce. If you have flour and milk, you can make homemade crepes for manicotti!
Servings 6
Equipment
- 8" omelette pan
Ingredients
For the ricotta cheese filling
- 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta
- 3-4 oz goat cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup parmesan cheese divided
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
- half the zest of one lemon
For the red sauce
- 1 lb 80-85% ground beef can use a combo of ground meat and pork
- 28 oz can whole peeled Italian tomatoes preferably San Marzano, see note
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped, ½ cup
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup red wine optional - see note below
- 3 oz tomato paste or ½ of a 6 oz can
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt to start
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- crushed red pepper to taste - try ¼ teaspoon to start if you like heat.
- water as needed (in ¼ cup increments)
- fresh basil optional
- 4 slices fresh mozzarella for garnish
- sprinkle fresh parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
For the crepes
- Add the milk, flour and eggs together either in a bowl or blender and mix until smooth and there are no lumps.1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, 4 eggs
- Heat a small 8" omelette pan over medium low heat. Spray the pan with baking spray for a little insurance if you choose, but per my mother in law, do not use any grease or butter.
- Using a small ladle (¼ cup), spoon crepe batter into the center of the pan. Lift the pan and quickly rock and swirl the pan to fill the bottom of the pan with the batter. Allow to sit until the top of the crepe looks mostly dry.
- With either a rubber spatula or a small offset spatula (if your pan is suitable for metal utensils), loosen the edge of the crepe and carefully lift up as you work your way under the crepe.
- Flip the crepe and cook for five seconds or so and remove to a piece of parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Allow crepes to cool before stacking on top of one another.
For the red sauce
- Make a batch of homemade red sauce per the instructions below or use your favorite jarred red sauce. I love Rao's Marinara Sauce.
- In the bottom of a large stock pot, heat a little olive oil and cook the ground meat until browned, about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.1 lb 80-85% ground beef
- Place tomatoes in a blender with their juices and pulse until desired consistency reached.28 oz can whole peeled Italian tomatoes
- Heat olive oil in a 4qt. saucepan (or larger if doubling) over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent and rich in color, about 5 minutes. Briefly add garlic for 30 seconds until you smell it.2 Tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Add red wine here, if desired. Cook for at least two minutes until wine is incorporated. See note below.½ cup red wine
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomato paste. Swirl around until softened and combined with onions about 2 minutes. Add spices ending with sugar and quickly combine because you don’t want the sugar to burn but to caramelize just a bit.3 oz tomato paste, 2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 Tablespoon sugar, crushed red pepper
- Quickly add pureed tomatoes and simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes. Check the seasoning after 30 minutes or so. Add more salt/pepper or a little more sugar if the tomatoes are more on the acidic side.water
- Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- The sauce will thicken which is what you want. You are looking for a rich, red, sauce with kick-butt flavor. You can leave it as it and use it w/meat or as a pizza sauce.fresh basil
For the ricotta filling
- Mix the ricotta ingredients together and set aside. Taste and correct for seasoning.15 oz container of whole milk ricotta, 3-4 oz goat cheese, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup parmesan cheese, 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, half the zest of one lemon
Assemble and bake
- Preheat the oven to 350˚with a rack placed in the middle.Add a 1 cup of red sauce to the bottom of a rectangular or oval baking dish.
- Line the manicotti up across or down the pan making two rows. Top with another ladle or two of red sauce and then tear on some fresh mozzarella if desired. Sprinkle over freshly grated parmesan cheese.4 slices fresh mozzarella, sprinkle fresh parmesan cheese
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until puffed and golden. Serve with extra sauce and parmesan cheese.
