Serves 6
Notes
Manicotti are a much-loved baked pasta in our family, but in this case I use crespelle instead of fresh pasta to envelop the ricotta stuffing. If you have crespelle in the freezer, as I usually do, it is a faster preparation; just be careful not to overstuff the crespelle, because they puff up in the baking process. For years, I’ve asked myself where the name “manicotti” comes from. Then, one day, I figured it out. When I was in a refugee camp in Trieste, I was enrolled in a Catholic school, and to supplement my tuition I would help the nuns in the kitchen. They wore big aprons, and on their arms, to protect the sleeves of their habits, they had tubes made out of white cloth with elastic edges on both sides. These sleeves covered their arms from wrist to elbow, and they were called “manicotti”; hence the name of tubular stuffed pasta that we now know as manicotti.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter, at room temperature, for the baking dish
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- 2 bunches mature spinach (not baby) (about 1 1/4 pounds), stemmed
- Kosher salt
- Peperoncino flakes
- 3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) fresh ricotta
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 8 ounces young provola, grated
- 2 cups freshly grated Grana Padano
- 12 Crespelle (recipe linked here)
- 5 cups Marinara (recipe linked here)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, and cook until it’s sizzling, about 1 minute. Add the spinach, and season with 1 teaspoon salt and a pinch of peperoncino. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the spinach is wilted, 4 to 5 minutes.
Put the spinach into a colander to drain. Discard the garlic. Press on the spinach to remove any excess water. Chop it, and place it in a large bowl. Add the ricotta, egg, provola, 1 cup Grana Padano, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well to combine.
Lay the crespelle out on your work surface, and divide the filling among them, spreading it on the bottom halves. Fold the sides in and then roll them up, like little burritos.
Spread about 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish, and arrange the crespelle, seam side down, in one layer. Pour 11/2 cups sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup grated Grana Padano. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and crusty and the sauce is bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Warm the remaining 2 cups of marinara to serve at the table.
