Manicotti MAN I GOTTA be crazy!

Feeling full of energy and industrious this morning I decided to make manicotti.  Italian food has always been my favorite and I have been wanting some really good lasagne lately soooooo......  Hey, I had all the ingredients except the manicotti noodles.  How hard can that be, right?  The kids and I had made our own noodles years ago, right?  The big difference this time was that I did not have the luxury of little helpers (or any helpers for that matter).  But I put that thought aside and decided that I could do this, I had the time.  

So, after Jimmy left for work this morning (at 6:00) I took the ingredients out of the fridge so that the could soften.  I sat down to enjoy my coffee and dig out my recipes.  After all the ingredients had time to soften it was time to begin.  I started at 9:00 this morning and was done by 2:00 this afternoon.  

I started my spaghetti sauce recipe and let it simmer while I made the pasta.  The sauce is a mixture of tomato paste, water, oregano, basil, salt, a little sugar and a bay leaf.  It simmers to thicken and yum and I am hungry already, but still have a while to go before it is ready to eat.  While the pasta was "resting" it was time to put the stuffing together.  Simple concoction of cream cheese, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese, and an egg along with some spices.  

After rolling out the pasta dough in the pasta machine it was cut into lengths and the stuffing was rolled inside.  Four pans later!!! Manicotti is covered with sauce, sprinkled with cheese and ready to bake.  If I had had my wits about me I would have made lasagne, it would have been so much easier.  The noodles could have been larger and it would have been a whole heck of a lot less work putting it all together.  BUUTTTT NOOOO!  I started the morning out with manicotti on the mind and manicotti it was going to be.  

If I had had some help it could have been easier, rolling out the pasta dough alone is rather cumbersome and difficult for someone that does not do it very often.  Fortunately for me it is done and ready to bake.  I am quite proud of my accomplishment and can not wait for Jimmy to head home for dinner of manicotti and homemade rolls.   


OH!  Susie, that is Chocolate Dumpling for dessert in the background.  :)