I love dishes like this. They’re not too time consuming to make and they’re fairly uncommon, meaning, I don’t see things like this a lot. Sure, if I lived in Italy, cannelloni would be all over the place, but living in western Maine, not so much. Since I’ve got some excellent Italian cookbooks, I put together fun dishes like this when I get the chance.
The Recipe
I found this recipe in The Complete Italian Cookbook by Christian Teubner and Carlo Bernasconi. It was definitely more complex in the book. I simplified it because I found the complexity to be somewhat superfluous. For instance, I decided to use pre-made no-boil lasagna noodles as opposed to making my own dough. Also, the original recipe called for lining the dough with a thin layer of leek. I didn’t see the need for that. I’m not sure anyone would ever even know the leek was there. Finally, I simplified the cream sauce preparation process. If there’s one thing I know how to make, it’s a delicious cream sauce and this rendition included some unnecessary steps.
This is an excellent dish that’s sure to delight. I love all the ingredients and they work very well together. Besides the pasta and cream sauce, the filling consists of spinach, onion, garlic, mushrooms, leek, and cream, among a few other things. These ingredients are sautéed together and then wrapped up in the lasagna. They’re then topped with an oh so flavorful cream sauce that rounds out the entire dish. The texture is great and the tastes are even better. This one’s a keeper. And it’s true Italian to boot.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
5-6 No-Boil Lasagna Sheets (Should be About 4″x6″ and Easily Rolled/Flexible)
For the Stuffing
12 Ounce Can Chopped Spinach
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Medium Sized Onion, Chopped
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
16 Ounces Mushrooms, Chopped
1 Cup Leeks, Chopped
1 Cup Cream
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
For the Sauce
1 Cup Cream
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon Parsley, Chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Prep the Ingredients
Go ahead and prep all your ingredients. Here are a few photos of mine.
Cook the Stuffing
Warm a large skillet over medium heat on your stovetop. Add the butter, onion, and garlic to the pan and simmer for about five minutes or until the onion softens. Then, add in the mushrooms and leeks and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes or until the mushrooms release some liquid and soften up a bit. Finally, add in the spinach, cream, salt, and pepper. Stir well and cook for another five minutes until the contents of your pan look like mine below. Everything should be soft and combined well.
Make the Cream Sauce
Warm a small saucepan over medium low heat on your stovetop. Add the cream, egg yolk, salt, and pepper. Stir the sauce periodically as it warms and when it begins to simmer, reduce the heat to low. Continue to reduce for another few minutes until the sauce thickens a bit. Then, add in the parsley. Stir and remove from heat.
Roll the Cannelloni
My package came with six lasagna sheets. I was able to fit five in my casserole dish. Each roll will end up being about one and a half to two inches wide, so think about how many you can fit in your dish.
Go ahead and place your lasagna sheets on your countertop or something flat. Then, divide the stuffing between sheets. Place the stuffing towards one end of each sheet and then roll the sheets up. Place them into a casserole dish side by side, with the seam facing downward. After that, pour the sauce over the rolls, making sure to cover all exposed pasta. That will keep the pasta soft while baking
Pre-Heat Oven
Arrange your oven racks so one is in the middle position and one is in the top position. Then, pre-heat your oven to 400°. When ready, place the casserole dish into the oven for about 15 minutes. At that time, turn off the oven and turn on the broiler. Place the casserole dish on the top rack and let the sauce brown for a minute or two. Keep a close eye on this as the sauce browns quickly. When finished, remove the dish from the oven and turn off the heat.
Plate & Serve
If you’d like, you can sprinkle some additional chopped parsley over the cannelloni to jazz things up a bit. Then, place one roll per plate and serve. Enjoy!
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