Cannelloni are quite easy to make, and though you can use cannelloni or manicotti shells -- round tubes -- you can also use 5 by 5-inch (12.5 cm) squares of fresh pasta, and roll them up around the filling. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (500 g) fresh pasta sheets, cut into 5-inch squares
- 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) mixed fish, including shrimp, calamaretti, cod, clams, and salmon, all boned or shelled, and diced
- A stick of celery and a clove of garlic, chopped
- White wine
- Chives
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
- The leaves of a sprig of thyme
- A small bunch parsley, minced
- The grated zest of a lemon
- Olive oil
- Salt and, if you have it, pink pepper
Preparation:
Whirl the cheese, lemon zest, thyme, and parsley in a blender.Sauté the celery and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and when the celery becomes translucent add the fish: first the calamaretti, followed by the cod and salmon, then the clams and shrimp. Sprinkle with white wine, season with salt and pepper, and cook a few minutes more.
While the fish is cooking, boil the pasta sheets, a few at a time, in salted water to which you have added a few drops of olive oil. Drain the sheets, putting them on a kitchen towel, and divvy the stuffing out among them.
Roll the cannelloni up, tying them shut with the chives, and arrange them in a lightly oiled oven dish. Dust them with the mixture you whirled in the blender, and a little ground pink pepper, and bake the cannelloni in a preheated 400 F (200 C) oven for 10 minutes.
A wine? I might go with something bubbly here, perhaps a Franciacorta, or a Gavi.
