Hyderabad: When it comes to pasta, our thoughts often tend to turn to the more popular types, like penne, macaroni or lasagne. But cannelloni, while not the first option to come to mind, also makes for a great meal. Cannelloni is like a hollow tube of pasta, which is stuffed with a filling of your choice — either vegetarian or with meat — covered with a sauce, and baked.
What makes cannelloni a great dish is that it is equally popular with vegetarians and non-vegetarians. For instance, a filling made with spinach and ricotta cheese, or with corn, makes for a lovely comforting meal, while fillings that call for minced beef, chicken are as easy to whip up. Some people even like to use turkey as a filling. The sauce for vegetarian and meat-stuffed cannelloni is typically tomato-based.
Readymade cannelloni is usually easily available in grocery stores. If it isn’t, then buying regular lasagne sheets and rolling them into a tube should be fine.
Cannelloni with Spinach & Ricotta
Ingredients
425 gm tomato puree
2 tbsp olive oil
½ cup grated cheese (plus extra for serving)
250 gm spinach (boiled and chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup thickened cream (optional)
1 tsp ground basil leaves
Pinch of nutmeg
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
225 gm ricotta cheese
Method
Mix spinach, ricotta cheese, egg yolks, garlic, grated cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper together thoroughly in a medium-sized bowl. Fill cannelloni tubes with the prepared mixture. To make the sauce, heat olive oil in frying pan, add tomato puree, basil, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Remove from heat.
Grease an oven-proof baking dish and pour a layer of sauce over the base, leaving enough to cover cannelloni. Place a single layer of filled cannelloni side by side in the baking dish. Pour over the remaining sauce and if desired, thick cream. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 25-35 minutes (test by pricking with a skewer). Serve hot.
