Manicotti/Stuffed Shells

I was watching a cooking show the other day, and the chef was making pizza. While talking through his preparation, he said about food, "What's more American than Italian?" Just struck me as being a very true statement. Pizza and spaghetti are mainstays in nearly every household in America. Chicken parmesan, garlic breadsticks, pasta, lasagna... the varieties are endless. I was looking for a recipe several months ago to make manicotti and stuffed shells and stumbled across this one online: Manicotti. It is amazing! Even with the green flecks of the spinach, my daughter gulps this down whether in the form of manicotti or stuffed shells. And for my small family, I am able to freeze two separate meals out of one batch of this recipe. This last time, I got 12 stuffed shells and about 10 manicotti. It's so easy and absolutely delicious!

(10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed completely & squeezed dry
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
15 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 box (12 to 14 shells) manicotti noodles (or about 24 large shells or a combination of the two)
Jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I love Bertolli's Tomato and Basil for this recipe)
1/2 cup shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese, for topping

Allow cream cheese to soften a bit, and be sure to get as much liquid as possible out of the spinach. Put cream cheese, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, parmesean, spinach, eggs, salt, and pepper into bowl. 

Mix until evenly blended.

If you are making stuffed shells, you have to precook the shells per the box directions. Once the shells are drained, gently spoon the filling into the shells. If you are making manicotti, these do not have to be cooked first. Take a cake decorating bag, cut the tip off, and fill the bag with filling. Gently squeeze filling into manicotti shell and fill it up.

Line your pan with foil, and stack shells or manicotti in pan. I use a casserole dish to cook mine. Since there is just two of us, I've been mixing these shells and manicotti up on the weekend when I have more time, and freezing them until I'm ready to cook. The time before last when I made these, I got about a 10 manicotti, and 12 stuffed shells out of one recipe of filling. I froze these as two separate meals. So, this last time, I separated them into two packs of nine shells, and one with 3 or 4 manicotti and a couple of stuffed shells. I line these in a shallow foil-lined pan, then wrap the foil around them and place them in a freezer bag. The night  before I intend to cook them, I pull them out of the freezer and let them thaw in the fridge.

Whether you're ready to cook them the night you make them or a later night, line your dish with foil and layer your noodles into it. Cover noodles with your choice of marinara. I prefer Bertolli's Tomato and Basil myself. 

Bake at 350 degrees - if thawed, bake for about 35-40 minutes; if still slightly frozen, bake for about an hour. Enjoy an amazing quick home-cooked meal!

Chicken Parmesan

I love chicken parmesan. I had never tried it until well into adulthood. As a matter of fact, I believe it was after my father passed away. I remembered that he had liked it, so I decided to order it in a restaurant, probably Olive Garden. It was so tasty that I decided to find a recipe so that I could make it on my own at home. I found one online, and have tweaked it beyond recognition to make it all mine. I've been told by several people that this is the best chicken parmesan they have had. Add a Caesar salad, and some amazing bread, and you have a wonderful meal for sharing with friends and family. In fact, this is a favorite meal for my friends Josh and Ashlie. They joined my daughter and I for dinner Saturday night, and this is what I fixed... as well as French baguettes and Garlic Cheese Pull Apart Bread (both of which will also be blogs). Here is how I make mine:

Chicken breasts (I use the Walmart bagged chicken.  Usually five smaller breasts work best. That's about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken. More than that and you won't have enough sauce for all of the breasts.)

Spaghetti sauce of your choice (I'm very fond of Bertolli's Tomato and Basil for this recipe)

Italian breadcrumbs

Milk and eggs

Season all salt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder

Olive oil

First clean off your chicken. I cut off any fat scraps that are stuck to it and rinse off each piece. Beat with a mallet each piece to thin out. I wrapped mine in parchment paper to control spatter, and it worked great. Put a thin layer of olive oil in your skillet and put on med-high heat. Season each piece of chicken lightly on both sides with season all salt, Italian seasoning and garlic salt. One piece at a time, dredge chicken into egg mixture (I used three eggs and a splash of milk, less than a quarter of a cup), then cover completely on both sides with Italian seasoned bread crumbs. 

Fry chicken on both sides until the breadcrumbs turn a golden brown. 

After getting the chicken in the skillet to cook, pour about 1/5 to 1/4 of your spaghetti sauce into a foil-lined 9X13 pan. Be sure it is spread evenly. After chicken is cooked, spread pieces evenly in pan.

Preheat oven to 350-400 degrees. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce evenly over all pieces of chicken. Bake for about 15-20 mins.

Remove chicken from oven. Cover each piece liberally with shredded mozzarella. Cook until cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy!!!