Crab and Ricotta Manicotti

Monday I wanted to make a dish that was a bit time consuming as my husband was home for MLK day and was able to watch our 9 month old. I was also looking for a recipe that would give us some leftovers that we could eat for lunch in the days to follow. I chose a Crab and Ricotta Manicotti recipe from Giada de Laurentis' book Everyday Pasta and can also be found on the Food Network website.

The recipe was fairly simple though a little time consuming because you have to make the Bechamel Sauce before anything else. However, as the book states , the sauce can be made a day or 2 in advance.

We enjoyed the creamy characteristics of this dish. I also liked that this manicotti is not heavy as your more tradional manicotti recipe. There was a nice crab to ricotta ratio in the filling. You get a nice amount of crab in every bite.

The only negative comments I would make about this recipe is, though I enjoyed the filling, I also felt that it fell a little flat. Granted this could be because I live in Columbus, Ohio and not in Maryland where I could get really fresh crabmeat. Or it could be that I am just not a big of Bechamel Sauce, I find it to be a little bland, unless there is something I am not doing correctly when I make it. Either way, I think the next time I make this recipe, and yes I will try it again, I am going to try adding a little spicy seafood seasoning to the filling. Also, the manicotti did not reheat as well as we would have liked, though I think this is more our error than the fault of the recipe. I should have known that crab may not be the best thing for leftovers.

All in all, we enjoyed this recipe. It really is pretty simple. I think if you really like crab, then you are going to love this!