Cannelloni With Spinach And Mushrooms Recipes

SPINACH RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 - 3 minutes until translucent. Add tomato, water, salt and pepper.
• Stir, reduce heat to medium, simmer for 5 minutes. Optional: add 1/2 cup water and blend sauce until smooth (I do this for guests!).
• Stir through basil or dried herbs. Set aside.
• Place spinach in a colander and press out most of the liquid (don't need to thoroughly squeeze dry).
• Place Spinach in bowl with remaining Filling ingredients. Mix, taste, adjust salt and pepper to taste (different cheeses have different saltiness).
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• Choose a baking pan which will comfortably fit about 20 cannelloni - mine is 21 x 26 cm / 8.5 x 10.5".
• Spread a bit of Sauce on the base.
• Transfer Filling to a piping bag with a large nozzle (that fits in the tubes), or use a strong ziplock bag. Or do this step using a knife (it's a bit tedious though!).
• Pipe the filling into the tubes. Place in baking dish.
• Pour over remaining Sauce, covering all the tubes. Cover with foil, then bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil, scatter over cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Serve, garnished with extra basil if desired.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, SPINACH, AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the Italian sausage meat, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon and brown it until no longer pink, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the excess fat from the sausage meat, and set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl stir together the drained and squeeze-dried spinach, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, eggs, cooled Italian sausage and onion mixture, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the fresh pasta rectangles for 1 minute and remove with a slotted spatula. Set aside. In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups tomato sauce. Working with 1 pasta rectangle at a time, spread 6 tablespoons filling along one edge and roll the pasta sheet up tightly, leaving the ends open. Repeat until you have 8 cannelloni. Arrange the prepared cannelloni, seam-side down, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 2 cups tomato sauce evenly over the cannelloni. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated Parmesan over top. Bake the cannelloni for 20 minutes and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the cannelloni with extra tomato sauce from the baking dish and garnish with fresh basil.
• To make fresh pasta dough: Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Hollow out the center making a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides. Break the eggs into the well. Add the salt, and olive oil to the hollow center and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well. As you incorporate more of the flour, the dough will start to take shape. With your hands or a bench scraper continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour. Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point, set the dough aside, cover it with plastic, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out. Divide the pasta dough into 4 even sections. Keep each section covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel while you work with each one. Flour the dough, the rollers of a pasta roller (or your rolling pin), your hands, and the work surface. If using a pasta machine: Flatten 1 of the of the dough pieces between your hands or with a floured rolling pin until it forms a thick oval disk. Dust the disk, the roller, and your hands with additional flour. Flour a baking sheet to hold the rolled out finished pasta. With the roller on the widest setting, pass the pasta through the machine's rollers a few times until it is smooth. Fold the dough over into 1/3, and continue to pass through a few more times until the pasta is smooth again. Begin adjusting the pasta machine settings to become thinner, passing the dough through a few times at each setting. If rolling the pasta by hand: Flatten a dough piece into a thick oval disk with your hands. Flour a baking sheet for the rolled out finished pasta. Place the oval dough disk on a floured work surface, and sprinkle with additional flour. Begin rolling out the dough with a floured rolling pin working from the center of the dough outwards, constantly moving the dough and lifting it to make sure it's not sticking.
• To make Simple Tomato Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the basil and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. With a potato masher, break up the tomatoes to achieve a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve. Cook's Note: Tomato sauce will last 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic for 1 min. Add the sugar, vinegar, tomatoes and some seasoning and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until thick. Add the basil and divide the sauce between 2 or more shallow ovenproof dishes (see Tips for freezing, below). Set aside. Make a sauce by beating the mascarpone with the milk until smooth, season, then set aside.
• Put the spinach in a large colander and pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt it (you may need to do this in batches). When cool enough to handle squeeze out the excess water. Roughly chop the spinach and mix in a large bowl with 100g Parmesan and ricotta. Season well with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Using a piping bag or plastic food bag with the corner snipped off, squeeze the filling into the cannelloni tubes. Lay the tubes, side by side, on top of the tomato sauce and spoon over the mascarpone sauce. Top with Parmesan and mozzarella. You can now freeze the cannelloni, uncooked, or you can cook it first and then freeze. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 mins before serving.

CANNELLONI WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Cook cannelloni tubes according to package direction; drain and set aside to cool.
• SAUCE--------------.
• In a medium size saucepan, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.
• Add chopped onion and saute' until just softened, about 4 minutes.
• Add chopped mushrooms and continue to saute' for another 3 minutes.
• Stir in tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, basil, parsley and water and bring to boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• FILLING--------------.
• In another medium-size saucepan, melt margarine or butter on medium heat.
• Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute mixing continuously.
• DO NOT BURN OR LET THE FLOUR GO LUMPY.
• Gradually stir in milk and cook on medium heat, stirring continuously until a smooth and thick sauce is formed.
• Stir in Ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese, and continue to cook until the cheese has melted.
• Remove from heat and stir in drained, chopped spinach, beaten egg, ground nutmeg and salt.
• Carefully stuff each pre-cooked cannelloni tube with spinach mixture using a small spoon; set aside.
• CAREFUL NOT TO SPLIT THE COOKED TUBES.
• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
• In a 9" x 9" oven-proof casserole dish, spoon 2/3 of the sauce mixture over the bottom.
• Place stuffed tubes in a single layer into the sauce.
• Spoon remainder of the sauce over the tubes.
• Sprinkle with grated Mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan cheese.
• Tightly cover with aluminum foil; place in preheated 350 F oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove aluminum foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and a nice golden crust forms.
• Serve hot.

MUSHROOM , SPINACH, AND CHEESE STUFFED CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Saute onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, spinach, and garlic in olive oil 3-5 minutes.
• Mix ingredients in step 2 with ricotta, mozzarella (use all but one cup), parsley, eggs, salt, and white pepper.
• Pour filling into two 1-quart size Ziploc baggies.
• In an 8x12 baking dish spread 1/3 of the jar of pasta sauce on the bottom (just a light coat on the bottom so the pasta won't stick).
• Cut one corner on the Ziploc baggie and slowly squeeze the mix into each pasta shell and put filled shell in the baking dish (I had to squeeze in one side and then turn and squeeze in the other side).
• Pour the rest of the jar of pasta sauce on top of shells (If I have leftover filling, I squeeze it over the top first).
• Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan.
• Cook for 30 minutes.