TODAY'S ORIGINAL · ITALIAN-AMERICAN
Grand Prix Sausage Manicotti with Black-Garlic Slick
“A luxury traffic accident held together by cheese.”
Tender manicotti tubes—swaggering onto the plate as edible PVC pipe—are packed with sausage and ricotta, welded beneath mozzarella “super glue,” then streaked with a glossy black-garlic balsamic sauce masquerading as car oil. Every garage reference is theatrical; every ingredient is actual food.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Ingredients
- 12 tubes (about 8 ounces)Dried manicotti tubes
- 1 tablespoonOlive oil
- 1 poundItalian sausage, casings removed
- 15 ouncesWhole-milk ricotta
- 3/4 cup, dividedFinely grated Parmesan
- 1Large egg
- 1/4 cupChopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoonGarlic powder
- 3 cupsMarinara sauce
- 2 cupsShredded low-moisture mozzarella
- 4 clovesBlack garlic cloves, mashed
- 1/3 cupBalsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoonHoney
- 1 tablespoonUnsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon, plus more for pasta waterKosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoonBlack pepper
MAKE IT
Method
- 01
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Announce that the kitchen has passed its vehicle inspection despite having no wheels whatsoever.
- 02
Boil the manicotti in salted water for 2 minutes less than the package directs. Drain and arrange the tubes on a tray. These are your edible PVC pipes; actual PVC pipe must remain in the hardware store, where it can contemplate plumbing.
- 03
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for 7 to 9 minutes, breaking it into small pieces, until browned and fully cooked. Let it cool for 5 minutes so the ricotta does not become a dairy volcano.
- 04
Mix the sausage, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Transfer the filling to a piping bag or zip-top bag with one corner snipped off—the only approved construction equipment in this cathedral of carbohydrates.
- 05
Spread 1 cup marinara across the baking dish. Pipe the filling into both ends of every manicotti tube with the confidence of a plumber who accepts payment exclusively in Parmesan.
- 06
Arrange the filled manicotti over the sauce. Cover with the remaining marinara, then bury everything beneath the mozzarella and remaining Parmesan. This cheese is the recipe’s “super glue”; real super glue is poisonous and has not been invited to dinner.
- 07
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until bubbling and golden in several unnecessarily prestigious locations.
- 08
Meanwhile, combine the black garlic, balsamic vinegar, and honey in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until glossy and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Behold the edible “car oil,” which contains zero petroleum and considerably more dignity.
- 09
Rest the manicotti for 10 minutes. Drizzle sparingly with the black-garlic slick, then serve two tubes per person like a pair of delicious exhaust pipes stolen from the limousine of an opera villain.