“Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto.” (Eat well, laugh often, love much) – anonymous

“The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.” – George Miller

You try to come up with new ideas, but in the end, people just want to eat Italian food.” – Stephen Starr

“You had me at string cheese!!” – Rebekah Maul

Once in a while I will be at my dest writing (likely working on the new book) and there will be this “ding!!” alert on my phone. I look down to see that Rebekah has messaged me from some other part of the house and – nine times out of ten – it’s going to be a recipe.

“This looks amazing!” She will say, along with a three-five minute video of some resourceful cook sharing an extremely appetizing idea from their kitchen.

Sometimes it’s just the video. Other times there will be a note. “I want this!”

Such was the case late Wednesday morning. I was wrapping up a section of my manuscript and there it was, a recipe from Rebekah that grabbed my attention instantly.

So I went to the store, picked up a few ingredients and cooked it for dinner.

“What was it that made you send this one in particular?” I asked. “They had me at string cheese,” she said. And I have to admit the idea was enticing.

The video starts out with the cook taking whole pieces of string cheese and placing them inside uncooked manicotti. I was hooked immediately! And it only gets better from there, especially for a cheese lover like me.

Here’s How it Works:

First insert an entire piece of string cheese inside each manicotti. Place the stuffed pasta in a lightly coated (olive oil) casserole dish. Repeat until the dish is full.

Then cover the manicotti with cooked ground beef or Italian sausage (we did the ground beef).

Next, cover the manicotti and ground beef with marinara sauce. Either make your own or use a jar of the good stuff from the store.

To the marinara sauce, add around a half-cup of pesto – home-made if you have it (I had some of Jim Winslow’s on hand). Use a spatula to spread it around on the sauce and mix it in well.

Now cover the sauce with a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese followed by a smaller amount of grated parmesan.

Finally, sprinkle with a mixture of herbs (I used basil, oregano, thyme, parsley and seasoned salt).

Place the casserole in a preheated oven, covered by foil, and cook for 45-minutes at 355-degrees. Then bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. Let the dish rest five minutes or so before serving.

I plated the baked stuffed manicotti casserole with asparagus. It was amazing!

So, like I have said before, I really enjoy cooking – but only if I have time and it’s not too much of a rush. Rebekah designed this kitchen especially for me, and I plan to make the most of it….

And she will make the most of it too, as she continues to send those “I want this!” foodie reels every once in a while.

“Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto.” – DEREK