History of the Cannelloni
Cannelloni; wide tubes of pasta filled with savory meat, seafood and/or cheese stuffing and baked in Italian ovens with love, was invented in 1907 at the restaurant La Favorita better know as the ' O Parrucchiano in Sorrento, Italy by the Chef Salvatore Coletta.

Ingredients:

1 box (8 oz/12 shells) Cannelloni or Manicotti pasta

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, reserve 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves,chopped
1 lb lump crab meat
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Bechamel Sauce Ingredients:
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk, warmed
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper

Preparation directions:     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Over high heat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Once boiling, add the pasta and cook until tender but firm, about 10 minutes. Gently drain pasta.  Next mix together ricotta, 3/4 Parmesan cheese, egg yolk, basil, crab, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
     Place cannelloni shells in a buttered baking dish and one by one fill each with the crab mixture and place back in buttered baking dish. Top the filled cannelloni with the Bechamel Sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
     Bake until dish bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Bechamel Sauce Preparation:
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Slowly add the warm milk, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, approx. 10 minutes, never allowing the sauce to boil.  Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper.  
 
Makes 6 Servings.

Read more »

        Sauce recipe:

2 sticks of unsalted butter

3 large garlic cloves, minced

3 tbls fresh lemon juice - reserve rest of lemon for slices

3/4 cup Sockeye Pinot Grigio

3 tbls chopped parsley

3 tbls Crisco Olive oil

3/4 lb Creamette Angel Hair pasta

Salt and Pepper to taste

       Melt butter with minced garlic in a medium skillet. Maintain heat just high enough to melt butter and soften garlic for approx. 7-10 minutes. Add black pepper, wine and lemon juice. Continue on very low heat allowing ingredients to blend together just below the simmer point, then taste for salt and pepper.

      In second pan add 4 servings worth of pasta to salted, boiling water.

      Add the shrimp to the butter sauce mix, gently stirring sauce and shrimp to thoroughly coat each shrimp with sauce mix. Turn the shrimp as necessary to cook them evenly. Shrimp will be almost done when they start to lose their translucency.  At this time add the parsley, and olive oil, and stir. Maintain shrimp skillet on warm while pasta finishes. For a beautiful finish, garnish with a slice of fresh lemon and sprig of parsley.  Serves 4.
Pasta suggestion: I recommend using Creamettes" angel hair" (Capelli d'angelo) pasta in this recipe, as it is a thin strand and cooks in only 2 minutes. This will keep shrimp from over cooking while waiting of pasta to finish, and will also keep pasta from overwhelming the flavor of the shrimp and sauce.

Read more »