Three cheese broccoli manicotti with secret sausage sauce

Cut off the tougher broccoli stems and slice them lengthwise; halve any tops with a thick stem. Stems and florets cook separately so the florets do not overcook.

Boil the stems in generously salted water 3 to 4 minutes, then add the tops and cook another 3 to 4 minutes until just barely tender.

Transfer to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking, then after a couple of minutes drain very well in a colander.

Cook the pasta tubes in the same water about 6 to 7 minutes, undercooked since they bake later; transfer into the bowl of cold water to hold.

Chop the well-drained broccoli by hand into small pieces, two or three minutes; a food processor tends to chop it too fine.

Mix 3 cups chopped broccoli with minced garlic, ricotta, grated provolone, Parmesan, two beaten large eggs, kosher salt, cayenne, black pepper and grated nutmeg until thoroughly combined; refrigerate.

Thin the prepared pasta sauce with a few cups of water and bring to a simmer on medium-high, so the manicotti do not dry out while baking.

Ladle about half an inch of sauce into the largest baking dish and scatter over one cooked, crumbled Italian hot sausage.

Pipe the filling from a piping or plastic bag, cut slightly smaller than the tube openings, into 12 tubes without overfilling; set them in the pan. A broken tube can be torn open, filled and rolled seam-side down.

Ladle over enough sauce to barely cover and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Bake in the upper centre of a 375 degree oven about 25 to 30 minutes.

Clean the edges with a barely damp towel and rest about 10 minutes so the filling tightens; garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

Serve with the sausage sauce, more grated Parmesan and a pinch of parsley.