Crepe Style Manicotti
A Taste of Family History
These delicate Crepe Style Manicotti are stuffed with cheesy, cozy fillings and baked up in sauce until fluffy and decadent. It’s a tradition our family has loved for generations that you can make ahead and bake when ready to serve.
Our Auntie was recently turning 90 years old and we wanted to throw her a big celebration. When I asked the family what kind of food Auntie Marge would like at her party, our cousin immediately said “Grandma’s Manicotti.”
I asked for the official recipe and we spent a day making these heavenly bites of goodness. These are Crepe Style Manicotti featuring pan fried tender sheets of pasta made from an egg, flour, and water batter.
Auntie Marge was super surprised and very much enjoyed these manicotti.
Plan Ahead For Ease
This recipe is a labor of love as you will see from the recipe card, but it does not feel overwhelming if you plan ahead. Get the fillings made and you are halfway done.
You can even make the fillings a day or two ahead of time. In fact, I recommend this!
We were making manicotti for fifty people so I had to triple the amounts listed in the recipe card below. You can easily adjust the recipe to meet the needs of your home.
Make And Bake The Next Day
We rolled our manicotti on a Friday and did not bake them until Sunday and they were perfect. I know that many will ask me if these can be frozen.
I am not sure of the answer to that as I have never made them and frozen them. My guess is no as the crepe is super delicate.
I think they would hold up better frozen if they were baked first.
This means that you should still make a big batch and pass out trays to your family and friends. You will be the new favorite relative if you do this!
If you wanted to give freezing a try, it would be my recommendation to freeze the rolled up manicotti on a tray without sauce and then place the frozen rolls in a Ziploc until ready to use. Then you would thaw, add sauce to a baking dish, and then bake them.
I will be giving this a try. This is what I do with my Stuffed Shells recipe.
The Cheese
This recipe only has ricotta cheese and some Parmesan. There is no mozzarella or any other creamy type cheese in this recipe.
At first I was doubtful that this recipe would be good without those cheeses since I could not imagine that it would be creamy, but they were VERY creamy. I like the ricotta cheese from Aldi because I find it to be less watery.
Reheat Well
These also reheat really well. I made these on Sunday and I reheated some in a pan on Tuesday and they were just as light, fluffy, and delicious. You can also use a microwave.
The manicotti did soak up some of the sauce, so you may want to keep some extra sauce on hand if you want to add more.
Crepe Style Manicotti Recipe
A treasured family recipe from Grandma Josephine, these delicate crepe style manicotti are filled with ricotta cheese or savory meat and cheese and baked in sauce until perfectly tender. A true Sunday dinner heirloom from my family to yours.
Ingredients
- 1. For The Crepes *will make about 10 crepes
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- 2. Meat Filling *will fill about 10 crepes depending how much filling you add to each.
- 1 lb ground meat
- 1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
- 1 lb ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 3. Cheese Filling (Optional / Second Filling)
- 2 lbs ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 4. Additional Ingredients
- Marinara sauce, for topping and baking *I used 1 jar per pan (24 ounces) of 10 manicotti plus a little for the top
- Extra grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
1. Make the Crepe-Style Pasta *each batch made about 10 crepes
- In a bowl, beat the eggs well.
- Add the water and mix.
- Gradually whisk in the flour until the batter is smooth and lump free.
- Lightly grease an 8 to 10 inch nonstick skillet or crepe pan.
- Pour a small amount of batter into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom in a thin layer. Try to get them as thin as possible.
- Cook just until set, then flip briefly.
- Remove and stack on a plate.
- Repeat until all batter is used.One batch makes about 10 to 12 crepes
2. Make the Meat Filling
- Brown the ground meat in a skillet; drain any excess fat.
- Add the cooked meat to a bowl with the spinach, ricotta, eggs, Romano/Parmesan, bread crumbs, and parsley.
- Mix until fully combined.
3. Make the Cheese Filling (If Using)
- In a bowl, mix the ricotta, eggs, Romano/Parmesan, and parsley until smooth.
4. Assemble the Manicotti
- Lay a crepe flat on a work surface.
- Place a spoonful of either filling along one edge.
- Roll up gently, tucking the sides if you wish.
- Place seam-side down in a baking dish that has been lightly coated with tomato sauce.
- Repeat until the dish is full.
5. Bake
- Spoon sauce over the top of the manicotti.
- Cover the dish with foil.
- Bake at 350°F for 30to 40 minutes, or until heated through.
- Remove foil, sprinkle extra cheese if desired, and bake uncovered for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
*we made 100 crepes and I used 3 lbs of ground beef, 6 to 7 fifteen ounce containers of ricotta cheese, we made 5 batches of the crepes and used 8 jars of marinara sauce.