Homemade Manicotti and Italian Mac and Cheese

I'm going to a PARTY....

I'm bringing this homemade manicotti... and this....

Italian Mac and Cheese.

I'm going to a party, I'm going to a party. An Italian feast of a party. I am bringing Homemade Manicotti, and Italian Macaroni and Cheese. I don't know about all of you but when I go to a party, I like to arrive LOADED with goodies, food goodies, drink goodies. Dessert goodies. And I want to dress up. I want to be the belle of the ball. I want all eyes feasting upon me. I want the ogling stares of strange men undressing me with their eyes. I want the furtive glances of ooohh baby you're hot. I want to get silly drunk and not remember what I did. I want to look through medicine cabinets in bathrooms,

I want to start brawls, I want George Clooney on a platter,

I want loose inhibitions, I want music on the radio, I want male revue entertainment, I want an open hot tub and an open bar, and I want a goody bag to take home.

I want my FFH(firefighter husband) to join me so we can christen a room in the hosts/hostesses home. You all do that, don't you? If you don't, please do so. The thrill of getting caught is just one of those things you must experience. Christen everywhere. The mall, the park, the car, the plane, every house you visit, the library, the possibilities are endless. And it's sooo much fun. It adds the sizzling spice. Oh, Christ, yes, don't forget the elevator in the Borgata in Atlantic City, also. They have security cameras in there. It just adds to the heat of the moment when people are watching.

Back to matters at hand,You are ALL invited to this party. Here is your invitation.

It is at Marie's The Proud Italian Cooks spot and Maryann's Finding La Dolce Vita spot. All you have to do is cook an Italian dish, blog about it and send it to them. They will then post it on their respective sites with your link and a picture. Can I just say to you, Holy Lord God in Heaven Above, you can gain 10 pounds just by looking through their sites. UNBELIEVABLE GOODNESS found there. Forgetaboutit!

Homemade Manicotti

Let's begin by making our shells first. Gather your 6 eggs,

and beat them with a whip, whisk.. Add your flour and water;

beat until fluffy. Butter a small nonstick - NONSTICK is very key here..

pour in a small amount of batter to cover just cover the bottom of the pan.

The thinner the layer, the lighter your manicotti shell will be.--Reminds me of the adage, The bigger they are the harder they fall. Does that make sense? I think the saying should be changed to the bigger they are the deeper they'll go. -- Anyhowsie wowsie, You will slowly see a glaze appear, it will look like this.

Can you see how half is glazed over? I know my photographic skills are lacking but my pornographic acrobatic skills are NOT! So there!

As soon as you see that, loosen the edges swiftly with a knife like so,

and begin to slide out.. can you now see better how it is glazed over?

your shell onto waxed paper.

And repeat until all shells are made. Please rebutter your pan with a pat of butter between every 2 shells or so.

Don't worry if this happens to you,

It's OK. I'll tell you just what to do with the broken ones. Just roll it into a ball, and throw it at your FFHs head. That's a blast, knock some sense into those DH's. Let your shells cool completely on waxed paper.

Meanwhile make your filling. Get the ricotta,

your parmesan cheese

and your shredded mozzarella,

and put them in a bowl. Now gather your 2 eggs lightly beaten, your salt, pepper, basil, and parsley, and throw it in the same bowl. Mix it all together.

Now to prepare the dish. Get a baking pan, I use a 9x13 (2 of them actually) and spread a layer of your favorite tomato sauce on the bottom. (I have a favorite sauce (homemade)that is from an elderly Italian woman.. when I worked as an RN in a nursing home, she passed her recipe onto me, she called it her Sunday Gravy, and I have NEVER strayed from it. It is my favorite EVER. One day I may blog about the "gravy". )

Take your manicotti shell, and place some of the ricotta filling down the center.

Roll up

and over, like so.

Repeat with all and place them seam side down in your prepared baking dish, pretty close to each other.

Sprinkle it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Then add another layer of sauce Lightly sprinkle again with the cheese.

Bake at 350 until heated through, about 45 minutes. Here it is. Hard to get a good shot of it, but I tried.

It is very light, and extremely tasty.

Here are some other bloggers who make their own pasta.. and so very nicely:

The Romney Family from Tried and True Yummy Recipes made their own Ravioli, check it out!

Sugamamas cafe made their own lasagne noodles, and gosh darnit , did not tell us how!! Come on, give it up, lady!

Maria at Two Peas and Their Pod made her own spinach pasta. So pretty!

Robin Sue from Big Red Kitchen makes awesome looking homemade Papparadelle. Holy Cow!

This next recipe, Italian Mac and Cheese original recipe found here, is from Rachael Ray. Madeline, of the EverythingRachaelRay blog secretly informed me that this was her MOST favorite dish. Actually she told me of 2 dishes, but I am making this one first because I want to go to the party. Hey, I'd fight for the right to PARTY! PAAARRRRRTTTTEEE... Growl..How can I not try this dish after the recommendation from Madeline?? If you haven't seen her blog, and you like RR, check it out. Madeline has a huge collection of Keeper recipes, and I have tried many. Her choices are on the money, honey. So buckle up Buttercup, and let's take a joy ride.

Italian Mac and Cheese

Have ready some penne rigate pasta, or ziti rigate pasta, cooked al dente. Get your sausage together, Emeril..

regret that it doesn't bring images of our friend,

our kielbasa into the mind, Remember this is an Italian party, not Polish, we have to deal with the Italian sausage not the kielbasa sausage. Its all about the motion in the ocean anyway, right?? Yeah, OK, keep believing that one, menfolk. AND ,,women, if you tell me you don't think what I think when working, cooking with kielbasa, sausages, bananas, and the like, you are full of it. Yep, up to your ears full of it. How can you not think of it? Its just natural, go with the flow. Flow rhymes with mow, tow, joe, crow, toe and Blow. Now tell me what you're thinking.

Remove the casings from the sausage. In a nonstick skillet, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain it onto paper towels and set aside. Excuse me , philosophers, no one has ever answered me as to where aside is???Please help me. ONE is the loneliest number that I've ever heard. Miss you today FFH... Anyway, Return your pan to the heat add olive oil, butter, garlic and sliced mushrooms, crimini if thats OK with you. Season these suckers liberally with some salt and pepper action. HA! I can talk like Miss Ray if I want to, but I don't really want to. Saute this goodness for 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden.

Here is what you must gather together for your cheese sauce-y stuff.

Preheat your broiler to high for now. OK, for your mushrooms, add flour,and stir a couple of minutes. Whisk in some stock and cream. Bring your cream to a bubble, stir in 2 cups of your shredded Italian Cheese blend.

When the cheese has melted into sauce, add tomatoes.

When the sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasonings. Add the hot sauce, I used tabasco, baby. It plays on your tongue, you will like the heat of the tabasco. Combine your cheese sauce with the cooked al dente penne, and the sausage,

Mix together, and transfer to a baking dish, casserole or whathaveyou,

Sprinkle some more of the 4 (or 6 in my case) cheese blend on top, then sprinkle with some grated Parmesan.

Brown this baby under the broiler.. Here you go..

Here you go.. Here you go..

Other bloggers have been fond of RRs tweaking of the classic mac and cheese dish. For example:

PatsyK of Family Friends and Food made Cheddar Mac and Cheese.

Reeni of Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice made Philly Cheese mac!!!

Mama Bear of Mama Bear Gets Chatty made Cheeseburger chili mac.

I guess RR has it going on with the mac and cheese thing.

Think about coming to the party, he will be there, meet Knuckles.

See ya on the flip side.