A Recipe from The Dragon’s Fare, Drexel Women’s Club Cookbook (1972)

About the Recipe

Such a simple and delicious base recipe. Becky and I couldn’t find manicotti at the store (because… pandemic.), but we did find some shells so we just used those instead. We spruced up the filling with a little bit of additional spices (this garlic, rosemary, sea salt combo is delish!), and picked a good marinara for the sauce. And of course added a little bit of extra mozzarella for good measure.

All in all, this is a great recipe to have on hand and build from.

For more recipes from my Weekend at Becky’s click here!

About the book

Becky’s Pop-Pop, Jerry Gaines (my great cousin something something something…) used to own a printing company just outside of Philadelphia. A lot of what he used to print were community cookbooks. Every time he found one that he really liked, he just printed an extra – like this one!

Like any great community cookbook this one is packed with easy to follow home recipes. Whatever these ladies were most proud of landed in this giant binder ring of cards, and we were so thrilled to be able to use it.

About the platter

This was an unmarked glass dish, but another that was passed down through a generation or two. It’s one of those great dishes that was passed from person to person and ultimately mother to daughter and no one can quite remember where in the family it came from.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ricotta cheese
1 pkg chopped spinach, cooked and drained
1 egg
3 T grated mozzarella or Parmesan cheese
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Directions:

Combine ricotta, spinach, egg, and cheese. Stuff manicotti shells and arrange in a greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Using your favorite spaghetti sauce, pour over manicotti, move to be sure shells do not stick to each other or bottom of baking dish. Cover and cook at 350* for 45 minutes.

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