Gluten Free Manicotti #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

Libby Klein  Every once in a while I gotta have red sauce, creamy ricotta, and melty mozzarella cheese. This is probably the most complicated version of those things you can make and one would ask oneself why would I do this? Why not just make lasagna? It's so much more simple and if I'm honest - tastes exactly the same. Or better yet, why not just order a pizza and go relax in front of the TV until it arrives? Because this girl likes variety. And once every ten years I like it enough to go to all the trouble of squeezing cheese into little tubes. Now I also have a great recipe for a white Chicken Spinach Artichoke Manicotti in the back of Mischief Nights Are Murder that I may share here one day. Of course, if you have the book you can just look on page 437. Tonight, however, I went old school.

I used Jovial Gluten Free Manicotti shells, but you can use regular glutenized shells if you want. If I didn't have celiac I would definitely be using San Giorgio. You may have to special order Jovial on the internet if you don't have a store that carries them nearby. The holes aren't as fat as with traditional brands, so a pastry bag really comes in handy when filling them with the cheese. The box directions say to boil for 4 minutes. I think 5 is better. A few of my shells were still on the overly-firm side of al dente. 

Are you a Manicotti fan or are you team Lasagne? Let me know in the comments.

Gluten Free Cheese Manicotti

Ingredients

2 boxes Gluten Free Manicotti shells (obviously cut this recipe in half if you want to make a smaller casserole.)
1 jar marinara sauce
16oz Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
1 Tablespoon garlic and herb spice (or your own blend of Italian herbs)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Shredded Parmesan or Romano - optional

Directions

It’s best if you can start this at least three hours before you want to eat. The ricotta cheese will run out of the shells when it’s first baked so if you can let the casserole cook then cool then warm it up again it will hold its shape better.

Boil manicotti shells for 5 minutes. Remove from the water with a spider or a slotted spoon.

Cover the bottom of your casserole dish with marinara sauce.

Combine ricotta cheese, egg, herbs, garlic, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. 

 

If you have piping bags, it’s much easier to pipe the cheese into the par-boiled shells than to use a spoon – but a spoon will work. So, if you have them, transfer the ricotta to a piping bag with the end cut off around the size of the opening to your shells.

Fill your shells with the ricotta cheese and make a layer on top of the marinara.

Top that with another layer of marinara. Top that with half the remaining Mozzarella cheese.  Repeat the process until you have two layers of filled shells topped with marinara and mozzarella. I like to top the whole thing with some fancy Parmesan or Romano shreds.

Butter a piece of foil and cover the casserole butter size on the cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes. It’s ready to eat now – but your cheese will run all over. Let it cool for about an hour, then put the foil back on the cheese and warm it up in the oven until hot. About 20 minutes on 300 degrees should do it.

 Let me know in the comments if you've ever made manicotti, and how did you fill the shells?

Poppy McAllister discovers that gluten-free Halloweens can scare up another case of murder in the latest installment of this delightful culinary B&B mystery series! - Kirkus Reviews

Poppy is none too pleased when her B&B is coerced into participating in the Cape May Haunted Dinners Tour during Halloween season. Though her knack for finding dead bodies has given the place a spooky reputation, the Murder House is a completely undeserved nickname. At least it used to be . . .
 
While Poppy wrangles with some guests who can’t stop squabbling with each other—including a paranormal researcher, a very quirky pet psychic who freaks out her portly Persian, and an undercover tabloid reporter eager to catch her staff in a lie—one of them winds up facedown in a plate of tiramisu. And now she has bigger worries than getting her house TP’d . . . 
Includes Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!
 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/