You need to take your time over this one but it’s an excellent thing to do on a rainy day.
Wine Suggestion: A bright, youthful, vibrant red Italian red came to mind immediately for this. We didn’t have anything to hand from the Sorrento/Naples area so crossed over to the Marches for Umani Ronchi’s Rosso Conero Serrano. A delightful blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese it stepped in admirably with an elegant red-fruited core and fine tannins.
Cannelloni all sorrentina – serves 4
First you need to make a batch of fresh egg pasta. If you have never done this before a youtube video will be helpful.
- 400g 00 flour
- 4 eggs
Make a mountain of flour on a large wooden board. Make a crater in the centre and break in the eggs.
Use a fork to break the egg yolks and gently whisk before starting to incorporate the flour by knocking it into the eggs. When you have added enough flour that the eggs will no longer run away, you can start using your hands and continue to mix, bring the flour and eggs together into a soft scraggy ball.
Knead the pasta until the dough starts to soften and smooth out – at least 5 minutes. If after the first few minutes the ball is still dry and flaky, flick just a few drops of water onto the board and knead them into the dough. You may need to do this a couple times, but don’t add too much, keep it to a couple of drops each time.
Once the dough is smooth, firm but pliable, leave it to rest, covered with a cloth or cling film for a at least 30 minutes.
Clamp a pasta machine onto a suitable table and put to the widest setting. Divide the pasta dough into 4, take a quarter and put the other 3 back under the cloth. Flatten the dough into a patty and put it through the rollers. Fold the strip of dough like an envelope and pass it through again, evelope again and pass again. It will be the size of a small book.
Set the machine at two and pass the dough through, but don’t fold this time. Do the same with the third setting, and so on until you have rolled it through all the settings and have a long strip, you can cut this to make it more manageable. Dust with some flour if it feels sticky.
Repeat this method with the other lumps of pasta. Cut the pasta into 12 sheets, each 20 x 10cm.
FOR THE SAUCE:
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- a pinch of chilli flakes
- 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
- a few fresh basil leaves
FOR THE FILLING:
- 300g ricotta, drained
- 2 eggs
- 200g mozzarella, drained overnight and diced
- 3 heaped tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 60g Parmesan, grated, plus extra for the top
- a few fresh basil leaves
- grated nutmeg
First make the sauce. Warm the olive oil, garlic and chilli in a large, deep frying pan. When the garlic is fragrant, add the tomatoes, basil and a pinch of salt. Break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
To make the filling, mash the ricotta in a large bowl, then beat in the eggs. Add the mozzarella, parsley and Parmesan and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil and prepare a large bowl of cold water. Drop a few pasta sheets into the boiling water, leave for 1 minutes, then lift out and into the cold water for 20 seconds, then lay on clean tea towels.
To roll the cannelloni, put 2 spoons of the filling at the top of the longer edge of each pasta sheet and roll closed.
Spread a little tomato sauce into the bottom of a large baking dish, arrange the cannelloni on top, then sprinkle with grated Parmesan and a few basil leaves, then pour over the rest of the sauce.
It helps to rest the dish now for at least 2 hours or even overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200C and bake for 30 minutes.
Leave the dish to rest for 30 minutes before serving with a green salad.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin:Fig Tree, 2021.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 