Excellent Crab and Ricotta Manicotti

Foodnetwork.com and Giada de Laurentiis are always great sources for delicious recipes. In searching for a recipe to use some leftover fresh ricotta cheese, I found a wonderful Giada crab and ricotta cannelloni recipe posted on foodnetwork.com. I was attracted by the fact that it contained crab, which we love, and by its mostly very favorable 241 reviews.

Since I could not find cannelloni at Publix or Fresh Market, I used manicotti, which means "sleeves" in Italian.

(If you ask me the difference between cannelloni and manicotti, I could not tell you. There are many conflicting explanations on the Internet. In some case, the two are used interchangeably. In others, manicotti tubes are described as being wider; or manicotti are described as being made from crepes rather than pasta. The bottom line is that the supermarket manicotti are tubular pasta shells that are suitable for stuffing.)

The recipe serves 6-7. The filling was enough to fill 14 manicotti sleeves - the number contained in the box I purchased. It is a bit pricey if you use lump crab, which I did. I used Chesapeake Bay lump blue crab from Fresh Market. It cost $29.99 for a 1 lb container.

The recipe is easy to make. However, making the Bechamel sauce, which requires constant stirring, took me about 25 minutes, rather than the 10 minutes stated in the recipe.

The verbatim recipe with reviews can be found at:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/crab-and-ricotta-cannelloni-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

- 1 box (8 ounces) cannelloni or manicotti pasta (12-14 shells)
- 1 cup of whole milk ricotta cheese
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1 pound lump crab meat
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- Bechamel sauce (see recipe below)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 3/4 cup Parmesan, egg yolk, basil, crab, salt, and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Fill the pasta with the crab mixture and place in a buttered baking dish. Top the filled cannelloni with the Bechamel Sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake until bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients

- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups milk warmed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes (do not allow the sauce to boil). (As I mentioned above, this step took me about 25 minutes.)

Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool, and then cover and refrigerate.)

Yield: about 4 cups