Homemade Cannelloni with Spinach Ricotta Filling
- 23 cups Flour
- 2 teaspoons Flour
- 1 whole Egg
- 3- 1/2 Tablespoons Butter
- 13 cups Flour
- 2 cups Milk, Hot
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 pinch Nutmeg
- 16 ounces, weight Spinach
- 14 ounces, weight Ricotta
- 1 whole Egg
- 2 cups Parmigiano Reggiano, Finely Grated, Divided Use
- 1 pinch Nutmeg
- 1 dash Salt
- 1 dash Black Pepper
- Note: this recipe requires a pasta maker
- For the pasta dough:
- Put the flour and egg in a food processor and mix.
- When the dough starts to resemble crumbs, place it on a cutting board that youve dusted with a little bit of flour.
- Knead it by hand until your dough is smooth.
- Form it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- To make the pasta: cut out 1/8 of the dough and flatten it into a rectangular shape with your hands.
- Put a little flour on it and begin passing it though the pasta machine.
- Turn the dial to the widest setting and, starting with one of the shorter sides of the rectangle, feed it through the rollers.
- Now fold one side of the piece of dough into the middle, then fold the other side over that.
- Starting with one of the narrower sides of the folded dough, feed the pasta through the machine, again at the widest setting.
- Repeat the folding and rolling technique on the widest setting for a couple of times.
- Then roll the dough through the next smaller setting.
- Roll the pasta through the machine without folding the dough between settings.
- Keep reducing the settings until you reach the narrowest one.
- To make cannelloni, trim each finished pasta sheet so that when measured each one is 4 by 6 inches.
- Repeat with the remaining 7 sections of dough.
- For the bechamel sauce:
- Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat.
- Then add the flour and whisk constantly until well incorporatedthis is the roux.
- Let it cook for a minute or two.
- Start adding hot milk a little bit at a time, while mixing continuously.
- Continue until the milk is well incorporated.
- Add the milk a bit at a timedo not add more milk unless it is well incorporated.
- Keep adding milk until all of it is incorporated.
- Add salt and nutmeg and cook it on a low heat for 5-10 minutes or until it thickens.
- For the filling and assembly:
- Clean and wash the spinach.
- Blanch the spinach for 2 minutes in a pot of salty boiling water.
- Drain the water off, putting the spinach into a colander.
- Rinse spinach with cold water to cool it down quickly.
- Keep spinach in the colander for 1 hour to lose the excess water.
- Then squeeze the spinach with your hands to get rid of as much liquid as possible.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Add ricotta to a bowl.
- Add the spinach, egg, 1 1/2 cups of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix until well combined.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil.
- Cook the pasta sheets in it for 1 minute.
- Its best to cook them one at a time.
- Remove them from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and put them on a plate to cool down.
- Repeat until youve cooked all of the pasta.
- Now take one sheet of cooked pasta and add 1/8 of the filling along the long side of the rectangular pasta sheet.
- Roll each pasta sheet up like you would a crepe (rolling the empty side of the pasta around the filling to make a tube like shape).
- Repeat for the remaining rectangles of pasta and the rest of the filling.
- Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with some cooking spray and pour some bechamel sauce on the bottom.
- Spread it well, especially in the corners.
- Place the cannelloni in the baking pan in 1 layer.
- Cover the cannelloni with the remaining bechamel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then broil 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
- Recipe adapted from Manus Menu.
flour, flour, egg, butter, flour, milk, salt, nutmeg, weight spinach, weight ricotta, egg, nutmeg, salt, black pepper
Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/homemade-cannelloni-with-spinach-ricotta-filling/ (may not work)