04 December 2011

Pumpkin cannelloni

Cannelloni are pasta tubes that are filled with various ingredients and then baked in the oven with a sauce to keep them moist and tender. Walt made these yesterday, stuffing them with the cooked pulp of a winter squash.

Pumpkin cannelloni with goat cheese, sage, and walnuts

You can roll out your own pasta or you can use fresh or soaked and softened lasagne noodles from the supermarket. You can probably buy cannelloni tubes in dried form, too, like other pasta shapes. In this version, the stuffing is made with:
  • 500 g (just over a pound) of cooked winter squash pulp, mashed
  • 150 g (5 oz. by weight) of soft goat cheese
  • 1 finely chopped shallot
  • pinches of spices including cumin, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg
  • 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh sage leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
Other spices and herbs might be just as good. Curry powder, for example, or Moroccan raz el hanout. Ricotta could replace the goat cheese. Basil would be good in the place of sage. Mix the pumpkin filling up and let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes so that the flavors will blend. Then put a log of it on each cannelloni or softened lasagne noodle and roll them up.

Arrange the stuffed cannelloni in a pan and pour in chicken or vegetable broth so that it comes half-way up the sides of the cannelloni. Drizzle some olive or vegetable oil over the tops of the cannelloni. Bake in a medium oven, covered, for about 20 minutes.

One possibility for a sauce to serve with the filled canneloni is melted butter with a little cream, some more sage or other herbs, and some coarsely chopped walnut meats. Pecans or hazel nuts would also be good. Serve some grated parmesan at the table.

6 comments:

  1. Yum!...no good me getting ideas though - Simon wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Never mind. I made the most unctuous oxtail carbonnade yesterday and almond croissants this morning, so we are both happy.

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  2. Too bad. Pumpkin or winter squash is another vegetable like beets, Brussels sprouts, or even cooked carrots that some people find unpalatable. More for me...

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  3. we are thinking alike... i've been having a lot of pumpkin pasta. with bacon of course. and just the other day i made some with pecans. i would have never thought.. but wow just delish! great work on this dish and an excellent idea in using stock instead of a heavy cream sauce (which i love too!).
    :-)

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  4. Oh boy oh boy oh boy :)) Walt mentioned these on FaceBook and everyone was drooling (or so their comments indicated :)). Gorgeous!!!!!!

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  5. Every time you write about food I am HUNGRY! (Well, it's dinner time, now, actually.)

    This looks delicious and I have a pumpkin downstairs (well, a kabocha squash that looks like a pumpkin) and feel inspired.

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