Six-Million Dollar Manicotti

Six-Million Dollar Manicotti
from the Centennial Ward Cookbook
recipe submitted by Liz Rawson (but she has never made it!!)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 C finely chopped onions
 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into small pieces
1 C each grated carrots, grated zucchini, and finely chopped mushrooms
3 T minced, fresh basil, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried
1 T minced, fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 oz light cream cheese, cut into cubes
1 C part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
12 manicotti shells, uncooked
3 C of your favorite low-fat, tomato-based pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)
Chopped, fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

To Make Filling:

Spray a large, non-stick skillet with non-stick spray. Add garlic and onions. Cook and stir over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn them.

Add chicken, increase heat to medium-high, and cook until no longer pink. Add carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, basil, oregano, and pepper. Cook for 3 more minutes. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in ricotta and Parmesan cheeses. Transfer filling to a large bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

While filling is chilling, cook manicotti according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

Using a teaspoon, stuff shells equally with filling. Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce over bottom of 2 baking dishes. Arrange 6 stuffed manicotti in each dish. Pour remaining sauce over manicotti and sprinkle with mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings

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Notes:  The recipe says to cut the chicken small... I didn't cut it small enough.  It has to fit easily into a manicotti tube.  I didn't have Parmesan cheese, so I used mozzarella cheese in the filling.  Oh, and I doubled the recipe!

Verdict:  This made 28 manicotti tubes (remember... I doubled it) so we invited my parents over for dinner.  We still ended up with maybe 12 as leftovers.  Kaleigh freaked when she came out and saw me stuffing the tubes.  She said... no way, no how will I eat that.  She had seconds.

Enough said!!!

We LOVED this.  It was unanimous!!!

Tuscan Rosemary Chicken and White Beans

I've had this recipe out to try for a couple of weeks.  I needed to prepare it on a night that Phil wasn't home because he doesn't care for beans.  We finally tried it this week.

Tuscan Rosemary Chicken and White Beans
from a magazine insert

1/3 c Italian dressing
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1/4 c water
2 medium carrots, sliced (1 cup)
2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)
1/4 c coarsely chopped drained sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crumbled
1 can (19 oz) cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed and drained

Heat dressing in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken in dressing 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add water, carrots, celery, tomatoes and rosemary to skillet.  Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut and carrots are crisp tender.

Stir in beans.  Cover and cook 5 to 6 minutes or until beans are thoroughly heated.

Makes 4 servings.

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Notes:  I used 5 chicken breast halves.  If I ever make this again I will go ahead and cut them up into bite sized pieces before cooking.

Verdict:  Not really a success.  Ok... no one liked it.  NO ONE!  I thought it was ok... but it was not amazing.  I have so many chicken recipes that we really like that I'm pretty sure we'll not make this one again.

Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp
from Daniece Crump

10 c. sliced apples
1 c. white sugar
1 T flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. water
1 c. quick-cooking oats
1 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter, melted

Place sliced apples in 9x13-inch pan.  Mix white sugar, 1 T flour and cinnamon together; sprinkle over apples.  Pour water evenly over all.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Crumble evenly over mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Can serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

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Notes:  I used granny smith apples.

Verdict:  Hello- one of our new favorite desserts!!!  Oh man, so very good and so easy!  Everyone loved this and asked for seconds.  As a matter of fact, one of our daughters asked for some in her sack lunch for school the next day.