| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Active: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups ricotta
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 12 dried lasagna sheets or 12 fresh pasta sheets
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- One 5-ounce package baby spinach
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 cup finely grated Pecorino-Romano, plus more for serving
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Grated zest (with some pith) of 1 large lemon plus juice of 1/2 lemon
- Leaves from 8 sprigs fresh tarragon, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
- Place the ricotta in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the ricotta for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna sheets and stir with a large slotted spoon to ensure that the pasta does not stick as it cooks. Cook until still quite firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large bowl (you’ll use the empty pot later). Gently toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to coat. (This is more pasta than you will need, but the extra noodles are backups for any that might break.)
- In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, add the spinach, then sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring, just long enough to wilt, 30 to 45 seconds. Quickly remove the pan from the heat and transfer the spinach to a kitchen towel-lined plate to drain and cool.
- Return the medium pot to medium heat, then add the cream and garlic and bring to a gentle simmer, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the Worcestershire, hot sauce and 1/2 cup pecorino. Spoon enough of the sauce to lightly coat the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, spread the ricotta out on the bottom and up the sides of the bowl (so the seasoning coats most of the cheese). Add the egg and sprinkle with salt. Mix to combine. Add pepper, the lemon zest, lemon juice, tarragon and the remaining 1/2 cup pecorino. Mix to combine. Add the sauteed spinach, reserving some for garnish. Add the allspice and combine thoroughly.
- Arrange the lasagna sheets on a clean, flat surface with the longer sides of the rectangles facing you. Place about 3 tablespoons ricotta on the edge of the sheet closest to you, leaving a little room on either end. Gently roll the pasta up into a tube away from you and place inside the prepared baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling, taking care that the manicotti are snug in the baking dish.
- Cover the manicotti with about three-quarters of the sauce. (Keep the remaining sauce warm.) Place the baking dish on the center rack of the oven and bake until lightly browned and the filling is hot in the center when pierced with the tip of a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Warm the remaining sauce and spoon it over the manicotti. Sprinkle the top with the reserved spinach and freshly grated Pecorino-Romano. Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 595 |
| Total Fat | 42 g |
| Saturated Fat | 21 g |
| Carbohydrates | 33 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 3 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 150 mg |
| Sodium | 544 mg |
Reviews
Use the pasta sheets or make your own. It makes a tender manicotti and the sauce is light and delicious! I went light on the tarragon because I am not that fond of it. Will definitely make again!
I like the idea of using large shell as are easier to fill. Alex always adds warm flavours which i love
Not a fan of this recipe. Very bland. And I see no reason why manicotti pasta wasn’t used instead of having to deal with rolling up pasta sheets and the mess it created. Didn’t add anything to the dish.
My family loved this dish. Great flavor combinations with fresh, light flavors. I did make two minor changes. I used large shells because they are easy to fill. The sauce recipe needs to be 1.5 – 2 times this recipe.
Made this for my family and was requested to make it again in 2 weeks. I also doubled the sauce. You have to use the lasagna sheets for this recipe to work.
This recipe is simple, easy, and reminds me of my Nana’s cooking. I can easily eat the whole pan myself.
It was really good. Don’t go with lasagna pasta.
try to find the pasta sheets. I couldn’t so we used to lasagna pasta and couldn’t quite roll up so did half in the lasagna pasta rolled up as best we could.
Then layered the rest in the lasagna flat and layered.
Baked all in one pan.
It was excellent.
Double the sauce. At first I couldn’t understand how the lasagna noodle could be used, the shape was all wrong. Then re-read the recipe. Lasagna Sheets. Only the bake sheets at my store. I cooked for 3 to 4 minutes added oil to water and drained. The hardest part is finding a place to lay them out. You only need 8 but in case of sticking and tearing, you have a few spares. I also baked the 20 minutes with out the cheese topping. When bubbly I sprinkled cheese and let finish the other five. I was fine with the allspice. I will make again with double sauce.
Currently Alex is my favorite tv chef. Unfortunately this recipe was a fail. It looked exactly like the picture and the textures were right. Unfortunately the flavor balance was way off. I was disappointed.
The store bought lasagna noodles were not a good choice. I cooked them for 14 minutes and they still would not roll up (longways) like a manicotti. So I layered them in the dish with spinach ricotta between and sauce on top. Needed more sauce but the end result was good. I used nutmeg instead of allspice and that worked fine. Next time (there will be a next time) I will make a smaller sized dish and more sauce.