The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (96 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Despite being composed of a straightforward collection of ingredients (pasta, cheese, and tomato sauce), manicotti is surprisingly fussy to prepare. Blanching, shocking, draining, and stuffing slippery pasta requires a lot of patience and time. We wanted an easy-to-prepare recipe that still produced great-tasting manicotti. Our biggest challenge was filling the slippery manicotti tubes. We solved the problem by discarding the tubes completely and spreading the filling onto lasagna noodles, which we then rolled up. For the lasagna noodles, we found that the no-boil variety were ideal. We soaked the noodles in boiling water for five minutes until pliable, then used the tip of a knife to separate them and prevent sticking. For the cheese filling, we needed only to taste-test several ricottas (part-skim proved to have an ideal level of richness). Eggs, Parmesan, and an ample amount of mozzarella added richness, flavor, and structure to the ricotta filling. For a quick but brightly flavored tomato sauce, we pureed canned diced tomatoes and simmered them until slightly thickened with sautéed garlic and red pepper flakes, then finished the sauce with fresh basil.
SERVES 6 TO 8
Note that some pasta brands contain only 12 no-boil noodles per package; this recipe requires 16 noodles. If your baking dish is not broiler-safe, brown the manicotti at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes.
TOMATO SAUCE
2 | (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes |
2 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
3 | garlic cloves, minced |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) |
Salt | |
2 | tablespoons chopped fresh basil |
CHEESE FILLING
24 | ounces (3 cups)
part-skim ricotta cheese |
8 | ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups) |
4 | ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (2 cups) |
2 | large eggs |
2 | tablespoons chopped fresh parsley |
2 | tablespoons chopped fresh basil |
³⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
16 | no-boil lasagna noodles |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Pulse 1 can tomatoes with their juice in food processor until coarsely chopped, 3 or 4 pulses; transfer to bowl. Repeat with remaining can tomatoes; transfer to bowl.
2.
Heat oil, garlic, and pepper flakes, if using, in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until garlic turns golden but not brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in chopped tomatoes and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt, bring to simmer, and cook until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil and season with salt to taste.
3. FOR THE CHEESE FILLING:
Combine ricotta, mozzarella, 1 cup Parmesan, eggs, parsley, basil, salt, and pepper in bowl.
4.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Pour 2 inches boiling water into 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish. Slip noodles into water, 1 at a time, and soak until pliable, about 5 minutes, separating noodles with tip of sharp knife to prevent sticking. Remove noodles from water and place in single layer on clean kitchen towels; discard water and dry dish.
5.
Spread 1¹⁄
2
cups sauce evenly over bottom of dish. Using spoon, spread ¹⁄
4
cup cheese mixture evenly onto bottom three-quarters of each noodle (with short side facing you), leaving top quarter of noodle exposed. Roll into tube shape and arrange in dish seam side down. Top evenly with remaining sauce, making certain that pasta is completely covered. (Assembled manicotti can be covered with sheet of parchment paper, wrapped in aluminum foil, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, thaw manicotti in refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. To bake, remove parchment, replace foil, and increase baking time to 1 to 1¹⁄
4
hours.)
6.
Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until bubbling, about 40 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking. Remove dish from oven and remove foil. Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Sprinkle manicotti evenly with remaining 1 cup Parmesan. Broil until cheese is spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Cool manicotti for 15 minutes before serving.
Cook 1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, in 2 tablespoons olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, breaking sausage into ¹⁄
2
-inch pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Omit olive oil in sauce and cook remaining sauce ingredients in saucepan with sausage.
Reduce salt in cheese filling to ¹⁄
2
teaspoon and arrange 1 thin slice prosciutto on each noodle before topping with cheese mixture.
Cook 3 rinsed and minced anchovy fillets with oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. Add ¹⁄
4
cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered, and 2 tablespoons rinsed capers to cheese filling.
Add one 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, and chopped fine, and pinch ground nutmeg to cheese filling. Increase salt in filling to 1 teaspoon.
FREEZING RICOTTA
Ricotta is a fresh cheese that contains a lot of water, so when we considered freezing it, our suspicion was that freezing would cause the extra water to leach out when thawed, giving the cheese a gritty texture. To find out for sure, we froze a few previously opened containers of ricotta for two months, then defrosted them and used them to make manicotti, ricotta cheesecake, and
PASTA WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, RICOTTA, AND PEAS
. We also made each of these recipes with fresh ricotta, and we tasted both ricottas plain.
When sampled plain, tasters preferred the never-frozen cheese for its smooth, clean taste. The frozen ricotta was more granular, looser in texture, and slightly watery. Few tasters could detect any differences when the ricotta was baked in the manicotti, and while the cheesecake made with frozen ricotta was slightly firmer and not quite as moist, the difference was negligible. But the frozen ricotta tossed with pasta was objectionable. In this recipe, the ricotta does not get cooked, and its texture was noticeably granular. So if you have trouble using ricotta up before it spoils, go ahead and freeze the extra—just make sure to use it in a recipe where it will be cooked.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Cheese lasagna offers an elegant alternative to meat-laden, red-sauce lasagna. But some cheese lasagna is just heavy and bland, due to the use of plain-tasting cheeses. And even those with good cheese flavor can have soupy, dry, or greasy textures. We wanted a robust cheese lasagna with great structure, creamy texture, and maximum flavor. For the best cheese flavor, we settled on a combination of fontina, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, and Gruyère cheeses. We found that making the white sauce (a béchamel) with a high ratio of flour to butter created a thick binder that provided enough heft to keep the lasagna layers together. And replacing some of the milk with chicken broth was the key to balancing the richness of the sauce and bringing the cheese flavor forward. But the real secret of a great four-cheese lasagna proved to be a fifth cheese. While ricotta didn’t add much flavor, it gave the lasagna body without making the dish heavy and starchy. Our final challenge was to keep the baking time short enough to avoid harming this delicate pasta dish. Both presoaking the no-boil noodles and using a low-heat/high-heat baking method—baking at a moderate temperature and then briefly broiling to brown the top—kept the lasagna from overbaking.
SERVES 10
Note that some pasta brands contain only 12 no-boil noodles per package; this recipe requires 15 noodles. Whole milk is best in the sauce, but skim and low-fat milk also work. Supermarket-brand cheeses work fine in this recipe. The Gorgonzola may be omitted, but the flavor of the lasagna won’t be as complex. It’s important to not overbake the lasagna. Once the sauce starts bubbling around the edges, uncover the lasagna and turn the oven to broil. If your lasagna dish is not broiler-safe, brown the lasagna at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes. This lasagna is very rich; serve small portions with a green salad.
6 | ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (1¹⁄ |
2 | ounces Parmesan cheese, grated fine (1 cup) |
12 | ounces (1¹⁄ |
1 | large egg |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
2 | tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley |
3 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | shallot, minced |
1 | garlic clove, minced |
¹⁄ | cup all-purpose flour |
2¹⁄ | cups whole milk |
1¹⁄ | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1 | bay leaf |
Pinch cayenne pepper | |
15 | no-boil lasagna noodles |
8 | ounces fontina cheese, shredded (2 cups) |
3 | ounces Gorgonzola cheese, finely crumbled (³⁄ |
1.
Place Gruyère and ¹⁄
2
cup Parmesan in large heatproof bowl. Combine ricotta, egg, black pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley in medium bowl. Set both bowls aside.
2.
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring often, until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 1¹⁄
2
minutes; mixture should not brown. Gradually whisk in milk and broth; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, whisking often. Stir in salt, bay leaf, and cayenne, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until sauce thickens and measures 4 cups, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure to scrape bottom and corners of pan.
3.
Discard bay leaf. Gradually whisk ¹⁄
4
cup sauce into ricotta mixture. Pour remaining sauce over Gruyère mixture and stir until smooth.
4.
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 2 inches boiling water into 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish. Slip noodles into water, 1 at a time, and soak until pliable, about 5 minutes, separating noodles with tip of sharp knife to prevent sticking. Remove noodles from water and place in single layer on clean kitchen towels; discard water. Dry dish and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray.
5.
Spread ¹⁄
2
cup sauce evenly over bottom of dish. Arrange 3 noodles in single layer on top of sauce. Spread ¹⁄
2
cup ricotta mixture evenly over noodles and sprinkle with ¹⁄
2
cup fontina and 3 tablespoons Gorgonzola. Spoon ¹⁄
2
cup sauce over top. Repeat layering of noodles, ricotta mixture, fontina, Gorgonzola, and sauce 3 more times. For final layer, arrange remaining 3 noodles on top and cover completely with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining ¹⁄
2
cup Parmesan.
6.
Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with oil spray and bake until edges are just bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking. Remove foil and turn oven to broil. Broil lasagna until surface is spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool lasagna for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons parsley and serve.
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss 18 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and patted dry, with 1 teaspoon olive oil, ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄
4
teaspoon, then spread over prepared sheet. Roast artichokes until browned at edges, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through roasting. Let artichokes cool slightly, then chop coarse. Sprinkle each of first 4 lasagna layers with ¹⁄
3
cup roasted artichokes and 2 tablespoons thinly sliced prosciutto along with fontina and Gorgonzola.