The Home Cook: Stuffed or Casserole Manicotti

Rocky and Bullwinkle. What's not to love? A classic cartoon with a dry irreverent humor, it's a standard of what animated humor can be. From the Fractured Fairy Tales to Bullwinkle's Corner to Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman, it's a cheap thrill at its best. When I was a bit smaller and had the determination to get up at 6 in the morning to watch it in syndication on Saturday mornings, my favorite part of each cartoon was the "To Be Continued..." segment of each Rocky & Bullwinkle Adventure. It tickled me beyond reason that the narrator always had TWO possible titles for the next segment, each of which foreshadowed a different fate for the Moose and Squirrel. TWO possibilities...it boggled my brain and thrilled me. Easy to Please be thy name.

Which is why it's no surprise that I love it when other things in life...say a recipe, can have TWO potential outcomes. If one scenario is good, multiple ones are infinitely better. Take manicotti for example, it comes in two sizes. Regular, slightly larger than penne tube pasta size OR jumbo stuff it with yummy goodness size. Oh the possibility of choice! It makes my heart beat a little faster. Which is when I found a recipe that gave me optional ways to use those two distinctly different yet same pasta options I was ecstatic. Well maybe not ecstatic, but I was pretty darn pleased. I could stuff the filling into the jumbo shells OR I could get a bit casserole-ish with the smaller ones. One for fancy and one for every-day. (Not that stuffed shells = fancy, but there is a significant time saver in just being able to mix everything in dish and bake it.) So with all that gleeful opportunity infront of me, I of course opted for the casserole. Let it never be said I'm not also always looking for the easy way out.

pictured: Manicotti Casserole, Option 'B'

Stuffed Manicotti*

1 pkg. Jumbo Manicotti, cooked according to package directions and cooled enough to handle

8oz Chive and Onion Cream Cheese

2/3 cup Milk

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

2 cups cubed chicken

Onion

Garlic

1/2 lb. Italian Sausage

10oz Chopped Broccoli

3.5 oz. Roasted Red Peppers

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

Paprika

Julienned Carrots

In a medium skillet saute chicken, onions and garlic until lightly brown and chicken is no longer pink. Remove to a bowl and set aside. In same skillet cook sausage, drain and blend with chicken mixture. Blend in broccoli, carrots, peppers and seasoning with sausage and chicken mixture.

In a small sauce pan heat milk and cream cheese, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Stir 3/4cup of the sauce into the filling mixture. Gently fill cooked shells with mixture and place in a greased, glass baking dish. Top with remaining sauce, cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until shells are heated through.

* This is the stuffed shells recipe; for the casserole I reduce the chicken to 1 cup and then substitute 4-5oz of cooked manicotti shells. Blend according to stuffed shell instructions, stir in pasta and turn in to a greased 11" x 7" glass dish. Top with some grated Gruyere and the remainder of the sauce and follow the stuffed shell cooking instructions. This makes the overall dish a bit saucier and more casserole-y.