Wild garlic cannelloni with a basil and ricotta filling
The first time I had proper cannelloni was at Vasco and Pieros pavilion restaurant in London, an age old Soho stalwart. It was 20 years ago and the memory of the dish still stays with me, the cannelloni I had was a simple spinach and ricotta dish. I wanted to do a seasonal tribute with wild garlic and went a step further and made the pasta with it.
Pasta
250g tipo 00 flour
50g pureed wild garlic leaves (ensure you squeeze out any excess moisture)
2 eggs
Whizz all the ingredients up in a food processor until they come together in a dough
Roll into a ball and cover with cling film
Place in the fridge to rest for an hour
Ricotta filling
1 egg beaten
300g ricotta
20 basil leaves finely chopped
100g grana padano finely grated
Salt and pepper
Mix all the ingredients bar the salt and pepper together
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Tomato sauce
1 tin chopped tomatoes
50ml red wine
2 shallots finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
50ml olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fry off the shallots and garlic in the oil on a low heat until soft and glossy
Add the tomatoes and wine and turn the heat up high for 1-2 minutes
Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
Place to one side to cool
To make the cannelloni
Roll the pasta out relatively thinly
Cut into 6 inch sheets, you want about 10
On the narrow end of each sheet place a dollop of the filling so it goes end to end
Start to roll up the sheet gently so as not to cause the filling to come out
Place in a baking dish
Repeat the process until all cannelloni are finished
Top with the tomato sauce and ensure the canneloni are covered well
I also like to add some mozzarella to the topping as well, just tear and dot all over
To cook
My preference is to cook this on the BBQ
Set the BBQ up for indirect cooking at 190c and cook for 40 minutes
For oven cooking cook at 180c (fan) 190c (normal) for 40 minutes
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