SAUSAGE AND CHEESE MANICOTTI

                     
* Exported from MasterCook *
                       SAUSAGE AND CHEESE MANICOTTI
Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 6     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Pasta
  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  12            ounces  sweet italian sausage link -- with fenal seeds
     1/2           cup  onion -- chopped
     1/2           cup  dry white wine
  28              cans  plum tomato with basil
     1/2      teaspoon  crushed red pepper
  8              large  basil leaves -- slivered
  2               cups  ricotta cheese
  1                cup  provolone cheese -- cubed
  1                cup  parmesan cheese
                        black pepper -- to taste
  1              pound  manicotti
  2        tablespoons  olive oil
Pierce each sausage several times with tip of knife. Place sausages in heavy large saucepan; add onion. Cover; cook over medium low heat 5 minutes. Turn sausages over; stir onion. Cover and continue to cook until sausages release some fat and onion begins to color; about 5 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to medium.
Add wine and simmer until wine evaporates and onion is golden, stirring often,
about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Fit food mill directly onto pan. Add tomatoes with juices and puree through mill into pan, leaving only seeds behind and scraping all tomato pulp from underside of food mill into pan  or puree tomatoes with juices in processor then strain out seeds and add puree to pan. Add crushed red pepper. Simmer very gently over low heat until sauce thickens and reduces to scant 2 cups, stirring sauce and turning sausages occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Add slivered basil and simmer sauce 5 minutes longest Using tongs, transfer sausages to plate and cool. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper
Place ricotta in medium bowl. Mix in provolone cubes, 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, and black pepper. Cut sausages into ¼-inch cubes; stir into cheese mixture. Season filling to taste with salt. (Sauce and filling can be made I day ahead. Cover separately and chill.)
ASSEMBLY
Cook manicotti in large pot of boiling salted water until still somewhat firm to bite and about ¾ cooked, about 7 minutes (depending on brand). Using tongs, carefully transfer manicotti from pot  to foil-lined baking sheet and cool.
Brush olive oil over bottom of l3x9x24nch glass baking dish; spread 3 tablespoons sauce over. Using teaspoon, fill each of 12 manicotti with about ¼cup cheese-sausage mixture . Arrange stuffed pasta in single layer in prepared dish and spoon remaining sauce over  (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand at room temperature.)
Preheat oven to 350 0E Sprinkle remaining ¾ cup Parmesan atop sauce. Bake manicotti uncovered until heated through and sauce is bubbling on bottom of dish, about 20 minutes. Let manicotti stand 5 minutes and serve
Straining the tomatoes through a food mill results in a smooth, seedless sauce. Scrape the bottom of the mill with a rubber spatula to extract as much of the puree as possible.
Ta avoid breaking the pasta tubes, don't drain them in a colander. Instead, gently remove them from the hot water with tongs.
Use a teaspoon to fill the pasta tubes with the cheese-sausage mixture. Then, if necessary, push the filling in with your thumb to compact it.
Once all of the manicotti have been arranged in the dish (some may have to be nestled along the sides), spoon over the remaining sauce.

Cuisine:
  "Italian"
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 620 Calories; 26g Fat (39.2% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 61g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 67mg Cholesterol; 516mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 4 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 3 Fat.
NOTES : To bring out the best in this dish, buy or order the finest cheeses from a cheese shop or Italian deli: fresh ricotta, mild imported provolone, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0