Seafood Manicotti

This is a version of my Stuffed Manicotti that I thought to try tonight for something a little different. It's easier than it sounds, and it turned out really good. I served it with my favorite Greek Salad. Can't beat it. Yummm. Enjoy! 

Seafood Manicotti

By: Christi

1 stick butter

shredded parmesan cheese

heavy cream

2 eggs

1 box jumbo shell pasta

1 large carton ricotta cheese (or 2 regular size)

1 medium bag small frozen shrimp (ready to eat) 

shredded mozzarella cheese

First boil pasta according to directions on box, drain,  and set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl mix eggs and ricotta cheese, salt and pepper to taste. 

In a colander run cool water over shrimp to thaw slightly, and drain well. Mix shrimp into ricotta and egg mixture. (You don't want it to cook because it is already pre-cooked and it is going into the oven.. if you cook it too much they will be really tough and icky) 

With a large spoon start filling cooled pasta shells with cheese and shrimp mixture and place the stuffed shells into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Keep filling shells until all ingredients are used or the pan is full. 

Once pan is full, place in 350 oven for 30 minutes. 

While pasta is baking, make your Alfredo Sauce and set aside. 

When pasta has baked for 30 minutes take it out of the oven, cover with your Alfredo Sauce, then top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Place back in oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese and heat up the sauce. Serve while hot with french bread! Enjoy! 

Notes: Obviously the list of various seafood you could add to this is endless. You can add any kind of meat or vegetable that will fit into the shells and change the sauce from Alfredo to a tomato sauce or even a Tomato Cream Sauce to go with your stuffing choices or just to change it up once in a while. And to be honest when I made this tonight I also added a can of lump crab to the mix. But it just got lost in the cheese and you couldn't taste it- so I wouldn't add that again unless you really like it and wanna use enough of it to overcome the ricotta cheese. 

Tuna Pasta Casserole (or Salmon)

This is a recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook that I just LOVE. I always make it with canned salmon instead of tuna, just because I like it better. 

Tuna Pasta Casserole

From: Betty Crocker Cookbook

1 1/4	cups uncooked medium pasta shells or elbow macaroni (3 to 4 oz)
2	tablespoons butter or margarine
2	tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4	teaspoon salt
2	cups milk
1	cup shredded sharp process American or Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
2	cups cooked broccoli flowerets, cooked until crisp-tender and drained*
2	cans (6 oz each) tuna in water, drained (or canned salmon)

Crumb Topping**

2/3

cup dry bread crumbs

1

tablespoon butter or margarine, melted Heat oven to 350. Make crumb topping and set aside. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in 1 1/2 quart sauce pan over low heat. Stir in flour and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smoother and bubbly; remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese until melted. Mix pasta, broccoli, tuna and sauce in ungreased 2 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake about 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with crumb topping and bake uncovered for about 5 minutes or until topping is toasted. *NOTES* For fear of the tuna making this dish dry, I always double the sauce part. I am not a person who likes my food drowning in sauce, but in this case- I suggest it. Also, I use Rotini noodles instead of macaroni noodles because 1- they are pretty. :-) and 2- I think the spiral grabs the sauce and other ingredients better. :-)

Crab Dip

This is another dip recipe Merletta made for the Christmas party. So good. Easy and delicious. Can't beat that. 

Crab Dip

From: Merletta

1 block cream cheese
2 cans crab meat
1 bottle cocktail sauce


layer starting with cream cheese, then meat, then sauce and chill. Serve with crackers. 


Be careful how much cocktail sauce you use or it will overpower the whole dish. You want to be able to taste the cream cheese and crab meat, not just cocktail sauce.