This is not only a rich and delicious dish, but is also very festive and colorful on the plate. It can easily be made ahead, which makes it a great holiday recipe.
We chose to serve the cannelloni with our version of a wonderful spinach salad that we first had at “Black Rock Pizza” here in Sparks. We are sort of stuck on this salad, if truth be told, and always have it when we go there. Not to digress, but for all of you locals, they make a killer lemon meringue pie.
Cannelloni with
Shrimp
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 12/15/2012
Cook time: 55 minutes
Serves: 6
1 lb. 16-20 count (headless) shrimp in their shells
1 box no-cook lasagna noodles
½ c unbleached flour
¼ c butter plus butter for baking dish
1 quart whole milk
2 cloves garlic
32 oz. part skim Ricotta cheese
4 T sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 egg
1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1 c Fontina cheese, grated
1 t red pepper flakes
Zest of ½ lemon
2/3 c Parmesan cheese, grated
bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
Roast the red bell pepper over a gas burner or under the broiler until black and blistered. Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool enough to handle. Remove the charred skin and seeds. Chop finely and set aside.
Bring the milk, one sliced garlic clove, and a teaspoon of salt to a boil. Add the shrimp and cook until no longer transparent. Remove shrimp and when cool enough to handle, remove the shells and return the shells to the cooking liquid and simmer, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes. Remove the shells and strain the liquid. Depending on the size of shrimp you are using, cut them into ½ inch pieces, cover and set aside.
In a medium sauce pan melt the butter. Add one clove of garlic, grated or pressed and stir until the garlic is slightly golden. Add the flour and stir with a whisk to incorporate thoroughly. Gradually add the milk to the flour, stirring constantly, until the roux starts to thicken. You want the roux to be slightly thin at this point. Add the grated Fontina cheese, chopped red pepper, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ta Da, béchamel done!
Preheat oven to 375’.
In a medium bowl combine the Ricotta, egg, chopped sun dried tomatoes, and ½ c chopped Italian parsley. Then add the shrimp.
Butter a large (or medium) baking dish and spread about 1 cup of the Béchamel sauce on the bottom. (You want a dish wide enough to accommodate the length of the lasagna noodles.)
In a large pan bring 1 quart of water to a boil, add 1 t salt and add one or two of the lasagna noodles. Watch carefully, and when the noodles become very pliable, about 5 minutes, remove to a plate and add two more. Continue doing this until all are partially cooked.
Pat the top surface of each noodle with a paper towel before adding the filling. With a spoon, put about 1/3 cup of the ricotta/shrimp mixture down the middle of a lasagna noodle. Overlap the long sides and lay, overlapping side down, in the béchamel sauce. Continue filling the noodles and laying them into the baking dish, long sides touching, until the dish is full or you run out of cannelloni.
Cover with the sauce and bake, covered, in a 375’ oven for 50 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 5 more minutes.
To serve, sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley.
Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan
Serves 2 hungry women
Serves 2 hungry women
Ingredients
approximately 3 oz. organic baby spinach leaves
½ cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
Roast the pine nuts in a dry skillet until fragrant. Watch closely, as they will burn. Remove to a bowl.
In the same skillet, heat olive oil and garlic gently. Add the pine nuts and heat through.
Pour oil and pine nuts over the spinach and top with the shaved Parmesan.
Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan |
Prosecco
Lemon peel for garnish
We made this recipe our own by using a lot of our favorite ingredients, such as sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red bell pepper, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and Fontina cheese. You know, we can’t leave well enough alone.
Don’t be afraid of the teaspoon of red pepper flakes in the béchamel. This is not a spicy sauce. There is just a hint of heat.
We intended to add a touch of nutmeg to the béchamel, but forgot and added lemon zest instead to brighten the flavor. Picture us standing over the pot, taste testing, looking at each other, and saying in unison, “lemon zest”!
The ends of our cannelloni touched the sides of our baking dish preventing the sauce from surrounding the ends. We strongly recommend that you allow room for the sauce. The pasta can easily be cut with a knife after par boiling.
This recipe will make 10-12 large cannelloni. Because of our pan sizes, we have left over filling. You could also make this into a great shrimp lasagna, which would save some prep time . . . . no rolling cannelloni.
Did we mention how much we love this salad? Maybe if we didn’t love it so much it would serve 4 dainty eaters. Just use our proportions and make as much as you want. (Pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic . . . you will want more!)
We so enjoyed the Prosecco from the last posting that we served it with this meal including dessert! Sorbet was a good ending for this rich dinner. It seemed only fitting to embellish it with some of the Prosecco. Any flavor of sorbet with a dry sparkling wine would be good, but lemon seemed perfect for this meal.
We hope your holiday is merry and bright. Pop the cork on some bubbly and toast all the good things in your life, that is what we will be doing.
We hope your holiday is merry and bright. Pop the cork on some bubbly and toast all the good things in your life, that is what we will be doing.
What a full and satisfying meal to celebrate the holiday! Sue and Meg thank you for the recipes and enjoyment of reading your blog twice a month for the year. "Happy Holidays!"
ReplyDeleteWe started this food blog because we enjoy cooking and eating together. It is gratifying to know that others are sharing in this adventure. Thank you so much for your comment.
ReplyDeleteHow delicious! A great shortcut to use lasagna noodles rather than stuffing individual cannelloni shells. The spinach salad was a natural for this meal and I can't imagine anything else. And your photograph captured the bubbles over the sorbet. It made my nose tingle! It us fun to see your riff off another recipe; more! This blog as been a pleasant diversion every other Sunday morning. Keep it up! Cheers and happy cooking!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, our noses were tingling too! It was a great ending for the meal.
DeleteWe were very pleased with our version of the cannelloni and intend to incorporate more of our own recipes in the coming year. Thanks so much for your comments and support.