Fresh Herb Pasta Sauce

In large pot heat for 3 minutes:

4 T extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped

Add:


10 tomatoes (blanched, and skinned)
6 oz jar tomato paste

1/2 cup parsley, chopped
4 T rosemary, chopped
2 T thyme, chopped
1/2 cup basil, chopped
2 tsp salt
2 T sugar

Heat to a low simmer. In batches put in blender and puree until smooth. Put back in pot and simmer for an hour or more.

Manicotti

This is a great meal if you are having guests come over. You can put it all together the day before. In fact, I think it is better to let the flavors meld in the fridge for a day prior to cooking. It is also a filling meal if you are serving vegetarians.

First off, you can cook this using lasagna noodles like in the picture, or you can use large shells. I like both. For the lasagna noodle I used the Barilla pre-cooked noodles. I placed an inch of boiling water in a 9x13 baking dish and then placed the noodles in the water for 5 minutes. Then carefully use a knife and separate the noodles and lay noodles on towels. Then you can procede to fill the noodles. Just butter a couple Tablespoons of the filling onto the noodle and then roll up.

Filling:

Mix in bowl:

15 oz whole milk ricotta
2 eggs
1 tsp parsley
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup mozzerella
1/4 tsp salt

Use a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (or homemade). Dump about 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a clean, greased, 9x13 pan. Place your rolled noodles, seam side down, or pasta shells, into the pan. Cover with remaining pasta sauce.

At this point you can cook the dish or cover and place in the fridge for a day.

Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.