Cannelloni all'Aeoliana (Cannelloni Filled with Spinach and Ricotta)

Tonight's dinner was wonderful! I went back to my Pasta cookbook by Marlena Spieler and decided to prepare Cannelloni all'Aeoliana. Translation? Cannelloni Filled with Spinach and Ricotta, Baked with Tomatoes and Basil. I believe this dish has the cleanest flavors out of any recipe I have prepared thus far.

Just a bit of information for those of you with inquisitive minds: The Aeoliana Islands are off the coast of Sicily and this dish is meant to capture the intense flavor of the Mediterranean. I dedicate this recipe to my cousin Gene, and his family that live in Sicily. My cousin married a Sicilian named Faida and they live in Sicily with their two kids; Janeal and Christian. I only get to see them once every 5 to 10 years but I think of them often. Okay, I am so easily distracted from the task at hand. Back to the recipe. As a precursor to the instructions, Marlena Spieler wrote that this is one of her rare dishes that is sauced without garlic in order to preserve the pure flavor of tomato and basil. In my humble opinion, that, along with using beautiful fresh pasta sheets, is what makes this recipe special. After preparing several pasta dishes during this cooking journey of mine, I am convinced that using a high caliber of pasta is the difference between a mediocre and fantastic dish. The pasta I used to roll the cannelloni was a fresh egg pasta. The texture and flavor of the pasta were divine.

I have to include this recipe because I highly recommend serving it for dinner to family and/or friends. I served it with an herb salad which was a perfect partner to the dish.

Ingredients:

11 oz fresh pasta sheets, about the size of lasagna

1 3/4 pounds spinach leaves

9 oz ricotta cheese

nutmeg

4 1/2 oz mozzarella cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 oz or several handfuls freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino (I used Parmesan), plus a little extra if desired

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp tomato puree

14 oz can tomatoes or fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

several handfuls fresh basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 375. If using fresh pasta, parboil the sheets in a large pan of rapidly boiling salted water until about half tender, then submerge in water, to stop the them from cooking, while you make the filling.

Cook spinach for a few minutes in large pan over medium heat with a few tablespoons of water, tightly covered, until leaves are limp and bright green. Remove from heat, let cool, drain, squeeze dry and chop coarsely. In a bowl, combine spinach with ricotta, nutmeg to taste, mozzarella, egg and half the Parmesan. Season to taste.

In another bowl, mix tomatoes with tomato puree and spread half of sauce over bottom of a large baking pan (at least 12 X 10 X 2 inches). If you parboiled pasta, drain for a moment on a cloth. Taking one sheet of pasta at a time, spoon a generous amount of spinach mixture on one quarter of it. Roll up and place on top of tomato sauce. Repeat until pasta and filling are used up, then top with remaining tomato sauce and cheese, drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 20 minutes or until it is sizzling and flecked golden on top. Serve sprinkled with basil and extra Parmesan if desired.

True perfection and the best part? We have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow.