Thursday, October 30, 2008

A good recipe

Tonight I tried to come up with a new recipe, as some of the italian pasta that I was used to eat while in trento are not easy to find over here. Here's the version of cannelloni all spinaci e ricotta that I was able to do, i'm really satisfied with the results and --along a good red wine-- it should be excellent for a romantic dinner.

Cannelloni all Spinacci and Ricotta.

(Recipe for 4 person)
• 10 sheets of italian Pasta Sfoglia (I think it's called Puff Pastry).
• 250g fresh ricotta or cream cheese
• ¼ cup grana cheese
• 250g frozen spinach (thawed)
• 2 egg yolks (beaten)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pinch ground black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)

• 425g can tomato puree
• 1 level teaspoon ground basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 level teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cream (optional)
Topping
• ½ cup grated cheese
• pinch of Oregano
• One piece of mozzarella cheese (medium size)


1. The Filling


Start mixing the spinach, ricotta cheese, egg yolks, garlic, grana cheese, salt and pepper together thoroughly in a medium sized bowl. Aside, boil a pot of water and introduce the sheets of pasta sfoglia, one by one, in order to soften them for a couple of minutes. Take each sheet and rolled up leaving some space for the filling. Finally fill the rolls with the mixture.

2. The Sauce

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add tomato puree, the cream, fresh basil, salt and pepper and bring to boil. Remove from heat after boiling.

3. Baking
In a greased oven proof baking dish pour a layer of sauce, leaving enough to cover cannelloni.
Place a single layer of filled cannelloni side by side in the baking dish. Pour over the remaining sauce. Cut small pieces of mozzarella and cover the top of the recipe.
Bake in oven at 200°C for 25 - 35 minutes (test by pricking with a skewer).