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First, we start by gathering up most of our ingredients. This allows us to keep a good ‘rhythm’ going while cooking. You don’t want to lose your groove in the middle of a session - it could spell disaster!

A few thoughts on the ingredients:

Tomatoes : I prefer the Pastene canned tomatoes because they are from Italy, not China and contain minimal preservatives or flavor agents. You can boil and peel your own, but there is some thought that the premium canned tomatoes are still of higher quality that the fresh ones in most areas of North America. I tend to agree for two reasons : 1) Tomatoes are in season for such a short time around here, and 2) I hate boiling and peeling tomatoes.

Flour : There is a local organic milling cooperative named Speerville Flour from which I buy most of my flour. A lot of people seem to prefer semolina for pasta making purposes - the only available local spot to purchase this from is the Bulk Barn, and inspecting the vat of it really turned me off.

Parmesan Cheese : Should be either freshly grated or purchased in a block and grated yourself. There is a notable difference between store-bought packaged parmesan and fresh grated.

Olive Oil : Choose the “Extra Virgin”. Although more costly, this indicates that it is less than 1% acidity, and was produced by the first pressing of the olives. This not only shows improved flavor, but shows increased antioxidants compared to other grades.

Basil : Fresh, not dried/flaked. You can, of course, grow your own but I have no space to do so.

Eggs : I’m not sure why I like to buy the free run local eggs. I could claim to be a pseudo-socially conscious yuppie, but I’m not. I could also say that it helps me sleep at night, but it doesn’t. I guess I feel it’s worth the extra $0.50/carton for some reason or another.

Ricotta Cheese : I usually pick up the ‘light’ cheese. Not much flavor loss and less calories.

Bread Crumbs, Onions, Salt, Etc. : Although I am picky about the other ingredients, these items I choose the cheapest/most fresh available.

Begin with a large pan or wok. I am lazy and prefer premium non-stick pants, but stainless are generally recommended.

I would not recommend purchasing or using any cheap non-stick pan. A cheap non-stick pan may throw off fumes that are toxic enough to kill birds, and does not last any length of time before flaking Teflon particles into your food. It’s worth it to buy higher end cookware.

Turn on your heat source to Medium-Low and add some olive oil to the pan. While the oil is heating up, slice two small or one large onions quite thin.

Add the onions to the pan and flip them regularly. You want to cook the onions until they are translucent, not browned. While you are waiting, you can press or slice very thinly some garlic and add it to the pan.

Again, being lazy, I use the press method. I used to use cheaper garlic presses, but I found that the Paderno brand stainless steel ones are very easy to clean and last a long time. My aunt Carole apparently has one from the pampered chef that requires zero cleanup, although I don’t understand how.

If you choose to slice it, a razor blade would work well, or a very sharp paring knife.

Now you can open your two cans of tomatoes and add them to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, crush the tomatoes until they are of a semi-smooth consistency.

You can also crush or lightly chop the tomatoes in a blender before adding them to the pan. I find the wooden spoon method beneficial as it also helps crush up the onions as well.

Bring the mixture to a boil, add some salt, and then turn the pan to low. Let this simmer while we begin the next step.

Try to stir this often

On a large wooden cutting board, pour out two cups of flour into a mound. Using your fingers, form a ‘well’ in the flour to place the eggs.

Using a hard surface, crack 3 eggs into the well.

The first time doing this, you may want to beat up 3 eggs in a bowl and pour it into the well pre-beaten. The next step can get tricky

Using a fork, begin to beat the eggs in the well like they were in a bowl. Slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs and eventually you will spring a leak in the side of the mound. Do not fret, simply mix up the four and egg as best you can with a fork, and then move onto using your hands.

Make sure you get most of the flour off the board and then knead the dough with your hands for at least five minutes. Work it into a cylinder shape.

If you are having trouble getting the dough to form a ball, you can add a slight amount of water. Work the dough again, and if needed, add more. You do NOT want to add too much water here. If you do, and the dough becomes slippery or slimy, add more flour until it feels almost dry to the touch.

When you are done, cut the dough into several small pieces

This is a good point to check on your simmering sauce. If some of the liquid has boiled off, you can replenish with water (Or some vino - make sure it’s red).

Continue checking the level as you simmer

Now is the time to bring out your pasta maker. Attach it firmly to a large table, and sprinkle some flour around it.

Begin by setting the rollers to their widest thickness. Feed one of the dough pieces through. If it sticks to the rollers, it is too wet. Add some flour to the dough and knead it. Try again.

Once it has passed through, fold the flat piece in half and feed it through again. I am not sure the official number of times you are supposed to repeat, but in my mind this also helps knead the dough some more, making it uniform.

When you feel that the dough coming out of the rollers looks flat and smooth, it’s probably done. Grab the other pieces and repeat the process.

Take your now-flat pieces of dough, and feed them back through the machine at a setting that is two notches thinner. My machine has 9 settings, so 2 notches is not that extreme. If yours has 5 or less, only change it one setting thinner.

Repeat the rolling/folding/decreasing process until you have several large sheets of pasta that are quite thin, but not so thin that they are fragile. On my machine, this setting is 6.

An alternative here, if you do not have a pasta machine is to roll out the dough by hand. I am horrible at rolling dough and could not offer any advice. I also wouldn’t want to try it.

Onto the filling! Dump out your tub of ricotta into a bowl and add some pepper, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. I don’t have any measurements here - just enough to add some texture from the breadcrumbs and flavor from the parm.

Crack an egg into the bowl, and whip up the cheese until it is semi-smooth textured.

Using a mini chopper (Or by hand), dice up the basil leaves into small pieces.

Dump the hopper of chopped basil into the cheese bowl and mix until uniform. Do not scrape out the hopper, as we will be using the stuck-to side basil in the next step.

Scrape out the remnants of basil and mix them in with your tomatoes. Continue to simmer and keep the liquid at the same level.

Cut the edges and ends off the dough until it is a rectangle. You can use these scraps to re-roll and make more dough.

Place a line of the now-complete filling in the middle of the pasta and roll it up as shown.

Repeat to fill as many sheets as you have.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 F.

Sophisticated types may want to place the tomato sauce in a blender at this point and blend until smooth. You can then remove the seeds with a fine kitchen filter/basket. I personally enjoy texture in sauces so I skip that step.

Obtain a deep and wide casserole dish and spoon out a liberal amount of sauce to cover the bottom. I would recommend using 1/3 of the sauce you made.

Using a knife, gauge out the length of the dish and cut the tubes of manicotti into that length.

Place the cut tubes on the bed of sauce and cover them with the rest of the sauce.

Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 375F

Remove, allow to cool slightly, serve with fresh parmesan cheese and bread. Enjoy