Romance, a bit of suspense, the history of Italy, and numerous recipes combine to create a story about love, food, and life – Italian American style.
Con Amore
“What could be better than good food and adventurous and mysterious romance all mixed into one book. Yummy!” Daniela Gioseffi, Editor, ItalianAmericanWriters.com
From Con Amore “Let’s make the manicotti.” Tovina proclaimed. “We’ll need to make tomato sauce and the ricotta filling.” Janine replied. “Also, we should present it more … dramatically. Any suggestions?” “I like the idea of a red and green sauce.” James replied. “How about cooked as a torta, the crespelle layered with the ricotta and tomato sauce, then served with the pesto on the side?” Janine asked. “I like the torta idea. Let’s think about it while we cook.” Tovina replied.
Manicotti Torta
Crespelle (Crepe) 1 cup milk 4 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup unbleached flour 1 to 2 teaspoons butter Filling 2 pounds ricotta 1 egg 4 ounces shredded mozzarella 4 ounces shredded provolone 1 tablespoon dried parsley ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper dash nutmeg (optional) 4 to 6 cups prepared tomato sauce prepared pesto sauce (optional)
To make crespelle: Blend milk with eggs, mixing well. Place flour in a large bowl. Slowly stir milk mixture into flour until batter is thick but smooth.
For the first crespella only, use a small amount of butter to lightly coat the bottom of an 8-inch pan. When sizzling, pour in batter, tilting pan, to evenly cover the bottom. Cook, over medium heat, until edges are slightly crisp and top is dry. If necessary, carefully loosen edges of crespelle with a fork.
Transfer to a platter to cool. Repeat with remaining batter, stirring batter before pouring into skillet. As crespelle cool, stack between layers of wax paper until ready to fill.
For filling: Spoon ricotta into a large bowl. Stir until smooth. Beat in egg. Stir in mozzarella and provolone. Add parsley and pepper, mixing well. Add nutmeg, if desired.
To assemble: Using a 4-inch deep 8- or 6-inch springform pan, place one crespella on the bottom, bring edges up side of pan. If needed, use a second crespella to fill in gaps or extend edges.
Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce over crespella then spread about ½ cup of ricotta mixture over sauce to within 1 inch of edges of crespella. Repeat with remaining crespelle, sauce, and ricotta, to ½ inch from top of pan. Finish with a crespella and top with sauce. Reserve extra sauce.
Bake in 375°F oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and loosen edges with spatula. Let cool for 20 minutes before removing from springform pan. Heat reserved tomato sauce. Cut torta into wedges. Spoon sauce onto plate, place a wedge of torta on plate, and top with pesto, if desired. Serves 4 to 6. (Shown: Topped with pesto; sserved with green beans and almonds.)
All photographs ©2004-2006 JTM ©2023 Janice Therese Mancuso
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Con Amore Read an excerpt Buy the eBook with color photographs and linked table of contents