Once upon a time, there was an Italian red house in Pasadena called “Dino’s.” Their drinks were strong, their portions were large and their house salad was a meal unto it’s self. (That chopped salad has influenced every salad I have made in the last 45 years.) When we went to “Dino’s” my sister always ordered the cannelloni, which is a dish of pasta or crepe, stuffed and rolled with ricotta and either meat or veg. Then it is covered with red sauce and baked. That’s the way they did it in Pasadena.
Now that I know a little bit more about the multi-verse that are Italian cuisines, as informed by the great Marcella Hazan and Lidia Bastianich, my own cannelloni is different. I made it last night. There was no bechamel and the ricotta is replaced by whole cottage cheese. But like so many pasta dishes that came to the United States, this dish has already been, shall we say, amended. What we now enjoy as main dishes, in large portions, were originally small portioned as part of a larger meal, in fact, a festival meal. The cannelloni I made last night would have been served as one roll per guest before the meat, or fish course.
The formal Italian meal is the ur text to the French haute cuisine. (Stay with me now, cause we’re going to do a little history,) Two Tuscan princesses married into royal families of France. Catherine D’Medici in 1533 into the Valois line and Marie (of the same house) into the Bourbon line in 1610. What is really important is that both of these ladies brought Italian chefs with them. Mayonnaise, marinara, demi glaze, bechamel all came to France from Italy with the Medici princesses. As did the order of a formal meal. (You did wonder when I would get back to that didn’t you.) Ok, here it is.
Primi (pasta, rice or soup)
Secondi (fish or meat)
Le verdure (vegitables)
Le Insalate (salad)
Il Formaggio (cheese course)
I Dolci e La Frutta (sweets and fruit)
Cannelloni , though a first course, has turned into a main dish, as have many other baked pasta dishes. My favorite at “Dino’s” was their lasagna. And at that great red house, the cannelloni was made with crepes rather than pasta. So let’s start with the crepes.
1 cup cold water
1 cup cold milk
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 cups flour
4 tb melted butter
Put the liquids, including the eggs, in the food processor or blender and, well, blend.
Add the flour, salt & melted butter and blend till smooth.
You can use a crepe pan or cast iron pan to cook these.
I use a stove top griddle because I can make 3 at a time.
Filling:
cottage cheese, Romano cheese, and an egg (or two)
2 16oz containers of whole cottage cheese
1/2 a cup of grated Romano cheese
2 medium eggs or one jumbo
salt & pepper
This is the basic filling. I used fresh baby spinach but any green veg or meat (though chicken may be too delicate) and mushrooms would also do very well.
Lay the pancakes out, fill them and roll them and put them in your favorite long baking pan.
There will be left over veg and cottage cheese. Spread them over the rolls before you lay on the marinara
Now let us talk about marinara. I don’t know what the Italians used before there were tomatoes in Europe, but now there are canned tomatoes.
Sauté one onion (yellow or white) in canola oil
add 2 14.5 oz cans of tomatoes
cook together till saucy
(yes, you may add oregano if you wish)
pour the sauce over the rolled pancakes and bake
in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about 1/2 an hour.
(bubbly is what your are looking for)
Eat this.
It will make you happy.
Now that I know a little bit more about the multi-verse that are Italian cuisines, as informed by the great Marcella Hazan and Lidia Bastianich, my own cannelloni is different. I made it last night. There was no bechamel and the ricotta is replaced by whole cottage cheese. But like so many pasta dishes that came to the United States, this dish has already been, shall we say, amended. What we now enjoy as main dishes, in large portions, were originally small portioned as part of a larger meal, in fact, a festival meal. The cannelloni I made last night would have been served as one roll per guest before the meat, or fish course.
The formal Italian meal is the ur text to the French haute cuisine. (Stay with me now, cause we’re going to do a little history,) Two Tuscan princesses married into royal families of France. Catherine D’Medici in 1533 into the Valois line and Marie (of the same house) into the Bourbon line in 1610. What is really important is that both of these ladies brought Italian chefs with them. Mayonnaise, marinara, demi glaze, bechamel all came to France from Italy with the Medici princesses. As did the order of a formal meal. (You did wonder when I would get back to that didn’t you.) Ok, here it is.
Primi (pasta, rice or soup)
Secondi (fish or meat)
Le verdure (vegitables)
Le Insalate (salad)
Il Formaggio (cheese course)
I Dolci e La Frutta (sweets and fruit)
Cannelloni , though a first course, has turned into a main dish, as have many other baked pasta dishes. My favorite at “Dino’s” was their lasagna. And at that great red house, the cannelloni was made with crepes rather than pasta. So let’s start with the crepes.
1 cup cold water
1 cup cold milk
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 cups flour
4 tb melted butter
Put the liquids, including the eggs, in the food processor or blender and, well, blend.
Add the flour, salt & melted butter and blend till smooth.
You can use a crepe pan or cast iron pan to cook these.
I use a stove top griddle because I can make 3 at a time.
Filling:
cottage cheese, Romano cheese, and an egg (or two)
2 16oz containers of whole cottage cheese
1/2 a cup of grated Romano cheese
2 medium eggs or one jumbo
salt & pepper
This is the basic filling. I used fresh baby spinach but any green veg or meat (though chicken may be too delicate) and mushrooms would also do very well.
Lay the pancakes out, fill them and roll them and put them in your favorite long baking pan.
There will be left over veg and cottage cheese. Spread them over the rolls before you lay on the marinara
Now let us talk about marinara. I don’t know what the Italians used before there were tomatoes in Europe, but now there are canned tomatoes.
Sauté one onion (yellow or white) in canola oil
add 2 14.5 oz cans of tomatoes
cook together till saucy
(yes, you may add oregano if you wish)
pour the sauce over the rolled pancakes and bake
in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about 1/2 an hour.
(bubbly is what your are looking for)
Eat this.
It will make you happy.
