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My Mother’s Cannelloni
Date: May. 8th 2008
Category: Gnocchi, Pasta, Pizza and Rice, Treasured Family Recipes, Meat and Poultry
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It’s been a very long time since I last talked about my mother’s cooking. A very long time!
Truth be told, I could talk about Mama Cream Puff’s cooking everyday. So today, allow me to tell you about my mother’s cannelloni.
What are cannelloni you ask? In our family, cannelloni are plump bundles of meat and ricotta-stuffed crepes. Traditionally, cannelloni are made by filling a pasta sheet and then rolling it into a tube that’s then baked (usually with sauce). In our family, however, we prefer the lighter crepe version.
As with all treasured family food, the emotions evoked by this dish run deep. In fact, I most closely associate cannelloni with my maternal grandmother whose cannelloni were things of beauty. They were somehow both light and substantial and they were perfect every time. In fact, she knew that her cannelloni were my very favourite dish and would often make them just for me. The joys of being the first grandchild!
In the years since my grandmother’s passing, my mother’s cannelloni have taken on a new significance and are as dear to me as my grandmother’s. I’ve always said that my mother is a crepe master. I don’t know anybody that makes a crepe as perfectly as she does.
Her filling is my very favourite one: veal and ricotta. You can fill cannelloni with a multitude of different fillings but that combination is my favourite. Annointed with beatifully red sauce the cannelloni go into the oven to be baked through and come out perfect every time.
And when I eat them, I have the same reaction every time. There is pure satisfaction over the food. More importantly, there is pure comfort because of the memories.
Ciao!
Cannelloni
Note: Once you’re ready to make the filling, it’s good to have a pot of tomato sauce ready to go as you will need it for the filling. You can use your favourite tomato sauce or you can use a family favourite of ours. You can make your cannelloni the day before and refrigerate them or you can make them and freeze them (unbaked) for as long as a month.
For the crepes:
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butterIn a bowl whisk eggs. Add milk and mix. Gradually add flour and blend until the batter is smooth.
Heat a non-stick frying pan (about 6 inches in diameter) on medium heat. Lightly grease the pan with butter and pour in about ¼ cup batter. Tilt the plan in a circular motion so that batter spreads evenly across the surface of the pan.
Cook for one minute and then flip the crepe over to cook on the other side. Cook for about half a minute longer. Remove the crepe to kitchen towel spread on the counter or a piece of waxed paper spread on the counter.
Once cooled, cooked crepes can be stacked one on top of the other. Crepes can be made the day before and kept well-wrapped.
For the filling:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon minced onion
1 pound ground veal
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 ½ to 2 teaspoons salt
Pinch of freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup ricotta
¾ cup shredded mozzarella
¾ cup Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese
¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 large egg, lightly beatenIn a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and ground veal and brown for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally.
Add the tomato sauce, black pepper and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Cook for another five minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Once meat mixture is cool, add ricotta, mozzarella, Parmiggiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano and bread crumbs, mixing lightly after each addition. Add egg and mix well.
The filling should have a soft consistency so that it can spread easily. Add more bread crumbs if it’s too soft or a little water if it’s too dry. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Place one heaping tablespoon of filling on a crepe. On half the crepe, spread the filling to within an inch of the border. On the other half of the crepe, spread the filling to the edge. The part of the crepe that has the filling spread to the edge will end up as the centre of your crepe.
In other words, when you roll the crepe, begin by rolling the half of the crepe that has filling spread all the way to the edge. As you roll, that part of the crepe will form the centre.
Once all your cannelloni have been rolled, prepare your pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large roasting pan or baking pan (approximately 12 inches x 14 inches), add about 2 cups of tomato sauce. The tomato sauce should not be too thick. Place cannelloni side by side in the pan leaving a tiny space between each cannelloni. Cover with additional tomato sauce (about 1 ½ cups to 2 cups).
Bake the cannelloni for about 1 ½ hours.
Let the cannelloni stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
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05/8/08 at 6:30 pm
Yum! You just reminded me of how long it has been since I made cannelloni. They used to be a regular part of my repertoire. Thanks for the reminder.
05/8/08 at 6:56 pm
I’ve never had cannelloni made with crepes before, but they sound amazing!
05/8/08 at 7:15 pm
My grandmother would make these for special occasions when i was a child. Looking at your photos brings back many memories. It is one recipe of hers I haven’t made for my own five children yet but you have inspired me to do so soon! Thanks for sharing!
05/8/08 at 7:26 pm
Yum! They look wonderful! Thanks for sharing your memories and the recipes.
05/8/08 at 7:30 pm
I’d never heard of making cannelloni with crepes either, well that is before this morning, as a funny coincidence I’ve been researching the difference between cannelloni and manicotti today! And now I’m very keen to try your mother’s version with crepes and lighten it up some, thank you so much for posting this today!
05/8/08 at 9:47 pm
These are a thing of beauty! Crepes are excellent for cannelloni and I love the veal flavor in them.
05/8/08 at 9:57 pm
Now this is twice I’ve seen crepes instead of pasta, very intriguing indeed. Cannelloni is not seen up here in the north that much, so perhaps it’s more of a southern tradition. I’ll have to try it. If it’s a Mama Cream Puff’s recipe, it’s gotta be a keeper!
05/9/08 at 12:30 am
So excited to see this! We absolutely LOVE your mom’s lasagna recipe and my hubby doesn’t like “americanized” lasgana anymore…he wants your recipe. I can’t wait to give this a try…so excited!
Go Flyers(well, Danny)
05/9/08 at 2:36 am
Mum’s cannelloni are always the best!
Ciao.
05/9/08 at 2:59 am
I have never tried this with crepes…sounds and looks amazing! I’m bookmarking this
05/9/08 at 4:52 am
Oh Ivonne those crepes do look perfect! Umm I need to make some again. Beautiful memories, hard to appreciate how much they flavor some food isn’t it.
05/9/08 at 4:53 am
I feel similarly about my grandmother’s stuffed cabbage recipe.
I will make these very soon. Living in France, ricotta and large tube pasta are almost impossible to find, however crepe making abounds–just did not realize that superb cannelloni could be made with crepes!
Don’t care that much for ricotta anyway, and since it is so hard to find, I will just use a bit more mozzarella and pecorino and maybe my fave hard cheese, grana padano. Just got a Kenmore standing mixer so I can mince my own veal! Oh, I am so excited about this recipe.
05/9/08 at 6:04 am
These cannelloni sound phenomenal!!! What a wonderful family recipe :).
05/9/08 at 7:29 am
Your cannelloni reminds me of my Italian grandmothers cooking. You are right, the memories a treasured food evokes can be so powerful. I am looking forward to trying your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
05/9/08 at 7:32 am
What a wonderful way to pay tribute to “Mama Cream Puff” (haha, love it), in time for Mother’s Day - the cannelloni looks fabulous, Ivonne!
05/9/08 at 8:53 am
I love how you’ve done this for Mothers Day, so great of you.
Also love that the recipe uses pancakes not pasta - unusual but so very good.
I could eat a plate of that right now. Yum
05/9/08 at 9:58 am
I admire you for making your very own homemade crepes! How delicious. I think I’d probably head to our little Italy and pick some up! My mom was just here and made me some manicotti. That’s about as Italian as she gets!
05/9/08 at 9:59 am
I’m honored to be given the recipe! It looks and sounds very authentic Italian, of course!
05/9/08 at 10:09 am
OK those look delicious, even for a vegetarian like me!
Could I leave out the meat part of the recipe? Do you think it would still be good if I put a veggie spin on it haha!!?
05/9/08 at 11:05 am
This is basically the same recipe I use to make blintzes - how cool - change the cheese for meat and add a tomato sauce and it becomes cannelloni. It just goes to show that we’re all not that different from one another in foods.
05/9/08 at 1:10 pm
Ohh I adore cannelloni and have not made it in so long. I will have to try your mothers recipe. Clarice-who just made stroganoff.
05/9/08 at 3:52 pm
Your mother’s cannelloni look and sound delicious! There’s nothing like mom’s cooking. Actually, I am making cannelloni for Mother’s Day!
05/9/08 at 6:42 pm
This is exactly like my manicotti wthout the meat. Or shall I say my mothers- passed down to me. i never heard of cannelloni. Now I have to check this out! Maybe all this time I was making them and I didnt even know it.
Anyway you have such thoughtful and loving posts about your family. its a joy to read!
05/10/08 at 5:07 am
[…] recipe posts, there’s spaghetti alla puttanesca at Closet Cooking, cannelloni at Cream Puffs in Venice, and nostalgic morels (and a tart) at Jumbo Empanadas. Megan the Vegan has […]
05/11/08 at 3:26 am
Oh thanks for the recipe- I have made the crepes last night. I doubled the recipe to make 12 of them. Will finish the recipe for todays dinner. I am using ground turkey instead of the veal. Thanks!
05/11/08 at 1:54 pm
Oh, these look to die for. Family recipes are always the best ^__^. I’m not a huge pasta fan, so the crepe version sounds perfect!!
05/11/08 at 3:12 pm
OMG I just have to tell you these are amazing. Everyone loved them. Seriously good. The ground turkey worked perfectly. Thanks again.
05/11/08 at 5:35 pm
Looks my mother´s cannelloni, with crepes.meat (no veal for those tropics) and cheese . How my family is huge, I always get the “dirty ” job… fry a lot of crepes (50 !! do you believe in this !!!) I really miss those days …. Wonderful post and great recipe Ivonne
05/12/08 at 4:41 am
Could you Mama adopt me?
05/12/08 at 8:56 am
It has been a very, very long time since I’ve had canneloni… It’s great to be able to re-create treasured family recipes like this!
05/12/08 at 5:56 pm
Okay…you know how you want my homemade custard? I’d love some of this canneloni…
We need to work this out..
j
05/13/08 at 9:00 am
When I was little we ate out a lot, several times a week. At least once a week it was at a little family run Italian restaurant and the ONLY thing I ever ordered in the 3 years we went there, was canneloni, which they made with spinach, ricotta and meat with a tomato and cheese sauce. I’d forgotten how much I loved it until I read this post. Thanks, another must make on my list. Your’s looks yummy with the crepes as well.
05/14/08 at 8:10 am
Have I told you lately that I am in love with Mama Creampuff??
WELL I AM.
xoxo
05/15/08 at 12:39 pm
oooh. that looks really really good!
05/20/08 at 4:48 am
Thank you so much for the delicious recipe! I made these last night and they were a big hit…my 4-year-old ate two plates of these tender, scrumptious cannelloni! YUM!
01/18/09 at 5:12 am
I just made manicotti (or cheese cannelloni, if you will) and want the perfect meat filling for next time. This looks divine and I just copied down the recipe. I will also hand make these crepes as I usually just buy boxed pasta. Yum!
10/23/09 at 5:44 am
[…] can’t have a piece yet because the cake is for after my birthday dinner (I’m having cannelloni!!!), but until then, thanks to everyone I love for making this a good […]