Christmas Eve Manicotti

My mother is full-blooded Sicilian. Christmas Eve we celebrated the Vigil and had 7 fish dishes. Since my children were not super fans of anything more than shrimp, I made manicotti to add to the squid and octopus they didn’t like. The crepes and the fluffy cheese and spinach filling are sure to satisfy vegetarians as well.

Step: 1

Whisk 4 eggs and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a bowl; gradually whisk flour into eggs, alternating with milk, to make a smooth batter. Whisk melted butter into batter; refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Step: 2

Pour vegetable oil into a small bowl. Heat a small skillet over medium heat; brush skillet with vegetable oil using a pastry brush. Ladle in enough batter to lightly cover the bottom of the skillet, about 1/4 cup; swirl skillet to cover bottom completely. Cook crepe until it turns lightly golden brown on the bottom; flip and cook until other side has small brown spots. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the skillet with oil as needed to prevent crepes from sticking; set cooked crepes aside between layers of waxed paper.

Step: 3

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step: 4

Lightly mix spinach, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, green onion, onion powder, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 eggs in a bowl until filling is thoroughly combined.

Step: 5

Spread 1 cup marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place a crepe onto a work surface and spoon about 3 tablespoons filling, or more as needed, in a line down the center of each crepe. Roll crepe over filling and set into sauce in pan; repeat with remaining crepes and filling, laying filled crepes into pan. Spread remaining marinara sauce over filled crepes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Step: 6

Bake in the preheated oven until bubbling and mozzarella cheese is melted and slightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes.

Per Serving: 505 calories; protein 25.1g; carbohydrates 42.1g; fat 26.4g; cholesterol 203.1mg; sodium 886.4mg.

Depriving yourself can lead to overeating , 2.00 AM snacking, and mindless eating and it’s for this reason that Riner encourages people to indulge in “fun” foods every once in a while.

Avoidance on late-night snacking and cravings , it is much necessary to include some easy foods (or what one may perceive as unnecessary ). It means , if we can be order the healthiest thing on the menu but come home and graze on chips, necessary we really will the burger and should have just enjoyed it in the first place."

Because it comes to eat on evening , overeating or eating too much of the wrong kinds of food can lead to bad habit on sleeping. On the other side, a daylight food that is not eating to much food than satiating can leave you want more and resulting in reaching for an unhealthy late-night snack even closer to sleep .