Sasha's Kitchen:Manicotti with Arrabbiata Sauce

Pasta dishes make great delicious meals - I was initially going to make stuffed shells using an Arrabbiata pasta sauce, but I couldn't track down jumbo stuffed shells, thus I bought some manicotti noodles instead. This is a healthy pasta dish as well, since I used part skim milk ricotta and part skim milk mozzarella. It is important for a dish like this to use shredded mozzarella, and not the lovely homemade rounds of mozzarella that are so good to eat in other dishes. The flavors here were excellent - and the sauce, which I have refined a bit since I posted my blog post on spagetti all'arrabbiata is a winner. This was a great new pasta dish, and one that I will certainly make again.


Sasha's Manicotti Arrabbiata
1 box of manicotti
3 T olive oil
1 15oz container part-skim milk ricotta cheese
2/3 cups grated parmesan cheese
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (part skim)
3 cans stewed tomatoes (15oz cans)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic
1 pureed roasted red pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (add more if desired to taste)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

To make this dish, lightly oil a 12 by 9 inch lasagna pan. Set aside. Cook the box of manicotti according to the package instructions, or about 4 to 6 minutes, in salted boiling water. They should be slightly firm when done, so be careful not to overcook them, as they will continue cooking later when you bake the dish in the oven. Drain the manicotti.

To prepare the sauce, saute the onions and garlic in the canola oil until they shimmer, about 5 minutes. Then add the pureed red pepper, and mix well. Add the stewed tomatoes and desired amount of red pepper flakes for some heat, and simmer until the sauce has the right consistency. Stir in the panko towards the end.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, egg yolks, parsley, mint, salt and pepper. Fill the manicotti with the cheese mixture, being careful not to tear the manicotti. Arrange the manicotti in the pan and cover with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the Arrabbiata sauce. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and bake for about 30 minutes at 350.

Sasha's Kitchen:Manicotti with Arrabbiata Sauce

Sasha's Kitchen: Spaghetti All' Arrabiata

Spaghetti All' Arrabiata is a pretty classic Italian dish. There are a million ways to make this dish, all of which are very similar. Below is my take on this classic.  I have made arrabiata before, but I have always used tomato puree.  However, Jamie Oliver suggests using canned plum tomatoes in his arrabiata, in Melanie Dunea's cookbook, the Last Supper.  Jamie Oliver is one of my favorite chefs, so I decided to follow this suggestion in doing my own arrabiata recipe.  It was a great idea - the texture of the whole tomatoes and the flavor was very different - much lighter and more enjoyable.  This recipe is extremely easy to make on a bust night, and was a big hit with my husband.  The leftovers were gobbled up for lunch the next day.

Sasha's Spaghetti All' Arrabiata
2T of red hot chile paste
pinch of cayenne pepper
4 cloves garlic
one onion, diced
3 cans of plum tomatoes
1 box of thin spaghetti
several sprigs fresh thyme
pepper to taste
canola oil

To prepare this dish, I sauteed the onions and garlic in three tablespoons of canola oil, over medium heat, for about three minutes until softened.  Then I added the chile paste and cooked for another minute or two.  Then I added the tomatoes and cooked for another 20 minutes until the sauce thickened.  At this point, I seasoned with the salt, pepper and thyme.  If it's not spicy enough for your taste, add a bit of cayenne pepper. In the meantime, I combined the pasta with the sauce (after cooking the spaghetti, of course). I noticed that Jamie Oliver also incorporates a small amount of bread crumbs.  I don't do that in my recipe, but it might be an interesting variation for next time.

Sasha's Kitchen: Spaghetti All' Arrabiata