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 RISTORANTE  d'ANNAMARIA

Cannelloni alla Napoletana: I'm not really sure just how many people this recipe will serve but the proportions of pasta, filling and sauce are correct.  It should serve 4 people easily but it may serve more. Experiment and see. If you don't have time to make your own pasta, pre-made store pasta is just fine. Simply follow the instructions on the package and use your own filling from this recipe.

Ingredients:

For home-made Cannelloni pasta:

All purpose flour                                11 ounces

Large fresh eggs                                 2

Salt                                                    1 teaspoon

For the filling:

Ricotta                                     `        8 ounces

Mozzarella (cut into small cubes)       8 ounces

Cooked Ham (finely chopped)             4 ounces

Fresh large eggs                                 2

Grated Parmesan                                3 ounces

Salt and Pepper                                  to taste

Ragu Sauce                                        about 3 quarts

Parsley (Fresh minced or dried)          1 tablespoon

How to do it:

The Ragu Sauce:

Follow my recipe on this site.

The Pasta:

Beat the eggs with a fork and add them to the flour in a fairly large bowl.

Add the salt and enough warm water to make a dough that is just moist enough to stay together. You don't want a crumbly dough, but you don't want a really wet dough either. Go easy on the water. As always, you can add but you can't take anything back.

Form the dough into a ball, put it aside, cover it with a damp towel and let it rest for an hour.

In the mean time:

The Filling:

If your ricotta seems watery, put it in a sieve and let it drain for an hour or two, then put it in a large bowl and mash it well.

Mix the ricotta with the eggs, the parmesan, the parsley, the mozzarella and the ham until they are blended well together.

Now back to the pasta:

Take the dough ball and on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a very thin sheet (1/32 inch thick?). Thin enough to cut at least 12 - 4 inch squares from it.

With a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut 4 inch squares. You'll need at 12.

Now in a very large pot, boil a couple quarts of water and gently place the dough squares in rapidly boiling water for just a couple of minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente. Don't over cook the pasta, it still has to bake in the oven.

Remove the pasta from the boiling water and immediately immerse it in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Remove the pasta from the cold water and place the squares on a clean towel to dry a bit.

Put enough filling in a line in the center of each square and bring the sides up and over the filling to form filled tubes.

Spread a thin layer of Ragu sauce on the bottom of a baking pan and then start placing the filled cannelloni tubes one beside the other in the pan (Only one layer).  Cover with grates parmesan and Ragu.

Bake in a 400º oven for about 20 minutes.

Let them cool for 5 minutes.

Serve