Manicotti Filling

Christmas traditions make up some of the best traditions. On my mom's side of the family we rotate homemade ravioli's and homemade manicotti from year to year like a whimsical carousel of cheesy deliciousness. Over the weekend Jackie and I did a "Sunday on Saturday" dinner where we had several close family over to enjoy some homemade pasta, with gravy, gravy meats, and manicotti. We rocked some Frank Sinatra in the background to help set that eye-talian mood.

I want to put the complete recipe set here, but we'll start with the manicotti filling. This is based off the "well...about a handful of this, and a scoop of that" directions that you'll get from any Italian grandmom coupled with some more quantified recipes on the Interwebs. The result was pretty dang tasty, but not yet perfected.

Ingredients:

2 lb ricotta

1lb shredded mozzarella

1/2 c grated "Macaroni Cheese" (go for Pecorino Romano)

2 eggs

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions:

Dump it all in a bowl and mix only long enough to evenly distribute ingredients. Fill the manicotti crepes as directed.

Finer details:

- Find a place that makes their own homemade mozzarella, and does a good job at it. At the very least don't us the solid block of mozzarella next to, or including, the Polly-O. See that oblong tube that looks like it's got water in it? You're on the right track.

- If you find a place that makes homemade ricotta, bonus points.

- Put a paper towel over the ricotta before mixing to remove excess moisture.

Tips and tweaks welcome in the comments!