Recipe(tried): Manicotti with Homemade Shells (Crepes)

Hi Tammy - I love homemade manicotti and just happened to find this recipe on the net at the TV Food Network homepage. It was on the show "How to Boil Water". I have made it several times and it has come out incredibly well.

Basic Crepe Recipe

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups water
3 eggs
salt
oil

in a bowl, whisk together flour, water, eggs and a dash of salt until smooth. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Rub an oiled papertowel along the inside of an 8-inch nonstick skillet. heat the skillet. pour 1/4 cup batter onto the pan. swirl batter around to cover surface. cook over medium heat until firm, about 20 to 30 seconds. flip crepe with fingers or spatula. cook for about 7 seconds on other side. remove from pan and stack on plate.

Filling

12 oz ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 package frozen spinache, thawed
salt

in a bowl, combine ricotta, eggs and half of the parmesan cheese. drain spinache well and squeeze out remaining water. add to cheese mixture. stir to blend. season with salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

8 crepes
cheese mixture
tomato sauce
remaining parmesan cheese

take a crepe and top with 3 or 4 tablespoons of cheese and spinache mixture. roll up. fill and roll remaining crepes. in a baking dish spread some sauce evenlyon the bottom. place stuffed crepes in baking dish (end down). top with more sauce and parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. serve.

I am making this for a dinner party tomorrow night. I have adapted this recipe to be very low fat as well
in place of any egg - use egg substitute
in place of whole ricotta - use fat free ricotta
do not replace the parmesan cheese. some things must remain.
have fun and keep cooking.
Rita