Holy Cannelloni!

Making homemade pasta for any meal is healthy and very easy. There are only a couple of ingrediency needed; one cup flour and two eggs make enough pasta for two. You do not need fancy machines to make pasta. Just mix the ingredients up on a clean counter with your hands, roll out the dough made and cut into strips for long noodles, cut again and you have short noodles or leave them in sheets for lasagna and cannelloni. Use the pasta fresh or freeze pasta for later use. I use homemade noodles in all kinds of national dishes. Noodles are common across many cultures.
However, making cannelloni from scratch is a lot of work! There are lots of prepping for the fillings and assembly. Therefore, I plan my work around harvest time and sometimes recruit volunteers who can’t resist the delicious taste of fresh pasta. You can prep the things I listed below over a couple of days by storing it in the refrigerator. Once, the prepping is complete, we are ready to assemble a pan of cannelloni!

Cannelloni Instructions for 2 types of fillings:
Noodles: I mix 2 eggs for every 1 cup of flour. In my recipe, I used 3 cups of flour, 6 eggs and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Create a mound with the flour and make a crater in the center. Lightly mix the eggs with the oil then pour the mix in the center of the flour. Using your fingers cupped stir the flour a little at a time into the egg. Keep mixing until all comes into a ball of flour only dusting the counter if it gets sticky. Knead for about 10 minutes then let rest for 10 minutes covered. I then cut the dough in manageable for my pasta maker. I roll out the pieces and run it through my pasta maker three-time tightening it each time. Then cut to cannelloni pieces about 6 to 8 inches, blanch in boiling water with a little salt for about a minute or two. Place in a strainer and run cold water. Layer the noodles with lots of olive oil and place aside. Note: extra noodles can also be frozen for later use. I use plastic wrap between the layer in a container.


Bechamel Sauce: I melt 2 oz. of butter and add 2 oz. flour whisking together till blended. I remove from heat add 2 oz. of parmesan cheese and pour 16 oz. of milk. Place back over the heat and whisk until it thickens. I added a little fresh sage, a pinch of salt and pepper. Place aside for a moment.

Tomato Sauce: I used 32 oz. of frozen cherry tomatoes from my garden, ¼ cup olive oil, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 small onion, ½ cup fresh chopped parsley, basil, sage, thyme, a few chili seeds, ¼ cup celery. I sautéed the garlic, onion, and celery until transparent. The tomatoes were added with the herbs. I cooked about 20 minutes until it was bubbling. I also used my hand blender to smooth the sauce a bit. Taste for salt and add pepper. Cook for 30 minutes longer until it thickens. Put aside a moment.

Meat Filling: I used 1 lb. each of veal and beef, 6 cloves of roasted garlic with chili, 1 small onion, ½ cup fresh chopped parsley, basil, sage, thyme. I cooked all together until the meat was no longer pink. Remove from heat, stir in 4 oz. of tomato sauce and let cool. Add about a 4 oz. bread crumbs add one egg. Mix well and leave for a moment.
Vegetarian Filling: I used 18 oz. of ricotta cheese, 8 oz. mozzarella, 4 oz. of parmesan cheese, 4 cups of fresh spinach, ¼ cup olive oil, 8 cloves of garlic and ½ teaspoon chili seeds, and 1 egg. I sautéed the spinach with olive oil, garlic, and chili seeds until wilted and tender. Taste for salt and pepper. Mix the spinach with all the cheeses and egg until well blended. Put aside a moment.

Cannelloni Assembly: Take one noodle by the short end and line with ¼ cup filling. Roll into cannelloni and place on greased cookie sheet with fold side down. Repeat until filling is done. Reserve enough made cannelloni to fit a 9” x 13” pan. Cover and freeze the remaining cannelloni on the cookie sheet until solid. Then store in a container for later use with your favorite sauce.

Put all of it together for baking: Pre-heat the oven for baking at 375°F. Take your pan and line the bottom with the white sauce. Then lay your cannelloni single layer in the pan followed with tomato sauce and cheese sprinkled on top. I like my cannelloni with lots of sauce. Bake loosely covered until bubbling then uncover for the last few minutes. Remove from the oven and let the pan sit for a few minutes while you get the dinner plates out. The cheese will set and you are ready to eat!