Seafood Manicotti with a Smoked Salmon Alfredo Sauce - 7/4/11

Lox and manicotti???  Who woulda thunk it?

My niece Mara asked me about an alfredo sauce, and I came across something I used as the prototype for this recipe.  It is not a traditional alfredo sauce in any sense of the word, but it is delicious.  The seafood manicotti was the result of my search for alternate fillings plus a cooking method that did not require me to boil the manicotti shells first.  Because everytime I do, they all break in half.  I know that there are recipes in which the uncooked shells are stuffed and then topped with a lot of red sauce, covered tightly and baked until the shells are tender.  I wanted to try this with a sauce that wasn't tomato based, and I think this worked pretty well.   This takes a full quart of heavy whipping cream, so you may want to be judicious with your portions.  That tomato garnish is not optional, by the way.  It really makes the dish.

Recipe: Seafood Manicotti

Servings: 8-10

Ingredients:

• 18 uncooked manicotti shells
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 of an 8 oz. tub of soft chive and onion cream cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon horseradish
• 2 drops Tabasco
• Leaves from 2 thyme sprigs
• 6 oz. cooked medium shrimp, tails removed and shrimp cut in half crosswise 
• 1 (6-oz.) can lump crabmeat, drained
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• kosher salt
• white pepper
• 1 recipe of Smoked Salmon Alfredo Sauce (recipe below)

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onions and garlic until softened, and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese and cream cheese; mix well. Add the egg and mix with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated. Add the contents of the small skillet. Stir in all remaining ingredients except for the sauce, taking care to be gentle with the shrimp and crabmeat.

Refrigerate for about an hour before filling the manicotti shells.

Using a small spoon, fill each uncooked manicotti shell, but do not overfill. Spread enough sauce to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 aluminum baking dish. Arrange the filled manicottis in the pan, then pour the remaining sauce over the filled shells.

Cover the pan tightly and bake for one and one-half hours until the shells are cooked through. Sprinkle some of the chopped tomato pieces on top of each serving.

Recipe: Smoked Salmon Alfredo Sauce
(You can find the original recipe here.)

Servings: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 pound smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 quart heavy whipping cream
• white pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Saute the onions in the butter in a pan until clear. Season the onions with white pepper and a pinch of sugar, but do not add any salt as the salmon and cheeses are quite salty. Add the green onions and saute another minute. Add the salmon and saute at medium to low heat for approximately 2 more minutes. Very gradually, start to add the cream. Stir constantly until it starts to thicken. Add both cheeses and stir until melted. Sauce should be fairly thick once you have added all the cream and cheese, but still able to be poured over the manicotti. Top each serving with tomato and parsley.