Cooking is so much more fun when everything is prepped and ready to go. Actually it can make you feel more like a chef – even if you don’t have a sous chef and had to do all the cutting and grating yourself. Clockwise, the above ingredients shown are green beans (blanched), green onions, swiss chard, grated fontina, grated gruyere, red bell peppers, grated parmesan, pasta dough, leeks, and hiding behind the leeks are the shallots. Just off camera the Italian sausages are waiting.
The filling for the Butternut Squash Manicotti.
The Italian sausage filling for the other Manicotti.
The Béchamel sauce
The pasta sheets ready and waiting.
And I forgot to take any pictures of the final product, but it was good!