Crab Manacotti

I think a recipe would be nice for this, but I don't really have one. No measurements for sure. But I got the idea from I think it was Everyday Italian on food network. It's straight forward, easy and DELISH. It also takes no time at all to prepare...

Let's see if I remember what's in it :-)

crab meat- lump crab would be nice I had imitation on hand
1 to 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
grated Parmesan
1/3 - 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 egg
salt
pepper
garlic powder
*if you have flat leaf parsley chop it up and add it to the filling
manacotti

sauce-
small onion sliced
1 clove minced garlic
4 T butter
4T flour
chicken broth
whole milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Cook the manacotti until it is almost done, about 7 minutes. After I shocked it in cold water to stop the cooking, OK and because I didn't want to handle hot pasta when I was filling them.

For the filling, mix everything but the crab meat in a bowl. then gently fold in the crab meat. Set it aside.

Now the sauce, it's a basic white sauce made with a roux. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, add the onions and cook until soft, add the garlic and let it cook until fragrant. A minute or two. Sprinkle the flour in there and cook it until a little brown and the raw dough smell is gone.

Add some chicken broth and milk and stir until there are no lumps. Cook until thickened. Add Parmesan cheese.

Fill the manacotti with the crab mixture.
Line them up in a pan, I didn't grease the pan or anything.

Cover with the sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 until heated through about 30 minutes is how long I left it in there for.

Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving. I garnished with fresh basil, parsley would be great too. It does need color.

Originally posted at Give Peas A Chance