Cannelloni with Swiss Chard and Ricotta

Many years ago -- like sometime during the Reagan administration -- I had one of those hand-cranked machines for rolling out pasta dough. It was a pain to use and I didn't use it all that frequently before I totally gave up on it, but while I was still using it I made lasagna noodles which created an unbelievably light and delicate vegetable lasagna. A lasagna you might even call ethereal.

After a long period of not making pasta, I bought a Marcella Hazan cookbook last year (and then another and another -- do you know how much I love being able to buy cheap used books from Amazon?) and I again became gung-ho on making my own pasta. Based on a recommendation in one of the Marcella Hazan books,  I purchased a pasta roller that attached to a KitchenAid mixer but before I ever got to use the pasta roller it was discovered that mice had nested in our stove which pretty much killed any desire I had to spend long hours in the kitchen making pasta. In fact, it brought almost all kitchen activity to a screeching halt.

Our house was old and needed work when we bought it and the kitchen was pretty hellish even before the mouse nest discovery. The fiberboard cabinets that had been installed in the 1970s were crumbling and the gold laminate counters were peeling up. The refrigerator was about thirty years old and rusted. The tiles on the floor were peeling or had been taken up to reveal the concrete floor underneath depending on what part of the kitchen you were in and there was no ceiling, just joists and electrical wires overhead.

But soon after the mouse incident the kitchen was redone -- not because of the mouse incident, it was already scheduled, although the mouse incident did mean that I started calling the guys who were scheduled to do the work and hounding them about when they could start. All the many holes in the walls that were the mouse equivalents of the Holland Tunnel were closed up. The crumbling and decaying countertops and cabinets were replaced and the ancient, rusted, and mouse-housing appliances were replaced. It became a far more pleasant kitchen to work in.

Despite the new improved kitchen, what with one thing and another, I didn't get around to trying out my new pasta roller until this past week. Sometime in the last year I saw a recipe for Swiss chard and ricotta lasagna and when Swiss chard began appearing at the farmer's market it was the motivation I needed to get with the pasta making.

Except I couldn't find the recipe. I couldn't remember where I'd seen it and although I went through all my cookbooks that seemed likely to have such a recipe, I still couldn't find it. I did find a Lydia Bastianich recipe for cannelloni with ricotta and spinach though, as well as a recipe for ravioli with a ricotta and Swiss chard filling so using these two recipes  plus what I had on hand as guidelines, I set about making cannelloni with Swiss chard and ricotta.

Making cannelloni is not a small project. I made a delicious tomato sauce from a Lydia Bastianich recipe one day, the next day I made the filling and pasta, and then baked the cannelloni the following day.

The cannelloni was not perfect; it was a little on the runny side  -- I'm guessing I didn't cook down the Swiss chard enough. But the cannelloni was light and delicate, and completely delicious. Swiss chard has a wonderful toothsome texture and the sweetness of the onions played against the Swiss chard and the richness of the ricotta was addictive. I was eating the filling right out of the bowl.

My recipe for the filling was pretty simple:

1 bunch Swiss chard,  leaves washed, stripped from the stems and ribs, finely chopped (I had a little less than 5 packed cups)

1 cup chopped scallions, white part only

1 cup red onion in medium dice

2 15-oz containers ricotta cheese

1 egg

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

1. Saute the scallions and red onions over medium low heat in olive oil until starting to soften. Add the Swiss chard, add a pinch of salt, turn heat up to medium high and saute until Swiss chard is wilted and any liquid is cooked off. 

2. Combine Swiss chard mixture with ricotta cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste.  (This was the part where I couldn't stop tasting the filling mixture.)

3. Add egg and stir to thoroughly combine.

I used about 12  pieces of pasta that were approximately 5" by 6".  I was a little too heavy handed with the filling and could have made it go farther. Marcella Hazan's advice on making cannelloni is to coat the piece of pasta with a thin layer of filling leaving a border of about 1/4 inch that is not coated. The cannelloni are then rolled up jelly roll fashion and placed, seam side down in a casserole dish (I used a 9" by 13" glass baking dish) that has a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom. The cannelloni should be laid in the dish so they are not touching each other, covered with tomato sauce and  a layer of parmesan cheese and baked in a 350 degree oven for 35 or 40 minutes.

Comments

[the bee]

Hey Lady,
Let us see a pic of the new improved kitchen. The fine people of Barilla make my pasta for me.
I admire people who take the time but it is just not in me. I still do not like that Sandra Lee chick on semi homemade though.No matter how many cocktails you serve , the guests will still know you frosted a store bought cake with cool whip.
She also made mocktails for her nephews soccer playoffs for the kids. Nothing screams good parenting than serving fake mohitos to the soccer team . Keep up the good work, you are inspiring the bee to get off her behind and do some real cooking.
(maybe a nice cheesy recipe in honor of the mice).

[discount family oracle online]

Sounds like a perfect meal for summer, when your hungry, but don't want to feel stuffed. With a nice glass of wine. Mmmmmm.
Did you get a cat? And does it have a normal name?

[rachel]

That looks so good! I like the idea of using the swiss chard.

[Vanessa]

Pasta making is a labor of love, which I'm not about to try, but I like this recipe and will try it with some "store-bought" pasta. (Glad you got rid of the mice. That's so creepy.)

[Julie]

Bets! I think you've figured out exactly why Sandra Lee serves cocktails with every meal. She's trying to take people's mind off the food she's serving.

DFO, we do have a cat, thank you for asking. We acquired her right after the mouse incident. Her name is Tigerlily which I think is a perfectly normal name although we do usually call her kitty. This is a picture of her. Of course, since this is her preferred spot day and night, I don't know that she's really a mouse deterrent.

Rachel, the Swiss chard works really well here.

Vanessa, yes, the mice were creepy and really, probably more than people wanted to know about.

[Rebecca]

Didn't we all have those machines and use them once or twice back then?! I'm trying to remember which writer has the funny piece about Norman Mailer getting one for his (much younger) wife, then hanging out with their guests drinking vodka, eating caviar, and bragging about the homemade pasta they were going to be eating, for several hours while she is laboring in the kitchen getting frustrated and covered in flour and dough. She eventually stomps into the living room, says "Fuck you!" to Mailer, and leaves the apartment.

I'm guessing the writer might have been Tom Wolfe in Radical Chic, but if anyone can correct me feel free.

Anyway, Julie, homemade pasta is great and this dish looks wonderful!

[angela]

I love making my own pasta, but it is always a cumbersome process. Yours looks fantastic!

[the bee]

The last thing I saw Sandra Lee do to her guests was to take a date and put a piece of pineapple inside,wrap the whole thing in bacon and bake it. Is there enogh alcohol in the world to make you eat that mess ? I say no .

[Lindy]

The thing about the kitchenaid attachment is that you can make pasta without a third hand. That was always my problem with my little manual machine.It really is semi-impossible solo.

That being said, now that I have the thing, I wonder why I don't make homemade pasta more often. Easy answer- I'm terribly lazy. I have never attempted canneloni, yours sound superb.For those, and for lasagna, especially, homemade is a different animal entirely,,so cloud-like and delicate.

Several years ago, a mouse ran across my living room, followed by my two bewildered cats, in a Keystone Cops routine. I actually climbed on a chair and shrieked, like a cartoon. The cats were unsuccessful, and acted a bit embarassed, but after the run in, the mouse seemed to have decided to try other venues.

[lobstersquad]

I used to have a mouse in my old studio. I didn´t even have a kitchen, but it put a stop to my coffee and biscuits pretty quickly. Ugh.

[Julie]

Rebecca, it's funny you mention Tom Wolfe -- I just bought a copy of The Electric Kool-Aid Trip at a yard sale this weekend. I need to look for Radical Chic next. Don't think I ever read that one.

Angela, making your own pasta is a cumbersome project. Definitely a project.

Bets, I agree with you. That is not an appetizing appetizer to me.

Lindy, cloud-like is a good description of lasagna made with homemade pasta. It really is different. And the one mouse I've seen since the kitchen was rebuilt and we acquired our cat was in the cat's mouse but obviously still alive. I did the eek-a-mouse thing too. It's pretty reflexive.

lobstersquad, the mice were probably pretty disappointed that you gave up biscuits. No doubt they were hanging around waiting for crumbs.

[Luisa]

That looks utterly delicious and EXACTLY what I wish I was eating for lunch today. Gorgeous! And I'm impressed beyond words that you made your own pasta. Esp. after the mouse incident! I know how you feel.

[ann]

i love making homemade pasta, its so relaxing, almost meditative
this looks fab and i love the swiss chard element
now i'm hungry, thanks ;-)

[littlebouffe]

The tomato sauce looks beautiful, so fresh and bright. (The whole thing looks fantastic, actually, time to break out the pasta roller...).

And I know just what you mean about used books on Amazon -- that's where virtually my entire library comes from.

[Julie]

Luisa, it was pretty darned utterly delicious. The pasta making is not all that difficult and in things like this it's a lot of payback for the effort.

Ann, I'm not at the point where pasta making is relaxing yet but I'd like to get to that state.

littlebouffe, ever since the time I saw a $30 copy of a cookbook at Borders and then checked it against the Amazon price where I noticed the used copy was $3, I've been buying used books very happily from Amazon. They haven't all been such good deals but if you wait and check prices for a while you can find some remarkable deals.

[sher]

I loved reading this. It reminded me of when I made cannelloni for a party. Your description of wrestling with the pasta machine is spot on! Everyone loved mine, but I avoided the pasta machine after that. I need to get one of those attachements for my Kitchenaide! Your picture is fabulous.

[lindy]

Another good source for used books is:
www.bookfinder.com

This is a mega-search engine which includes old and new books from big and little booksellers all over. It also searches amazon, alibris and almost all the other search engines for books.

You can find everything from 1.99 used paperback mysteries to thousand dollar first editions.
It's very cool. Usually there are several sources to compare for anything you look for, and condition is described.I get most of my books using it.

[Julie]

Thanks, Lindy. That's a great tip. I'm off to look at them.

[Phentermine]

Sounds great to me!

[Phentermine]

Thanks , Lindy. Im off to cow and big gun

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[doudoune moncler]

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[Liz W @ Cake Pops]

My mother is italian and she used to always make Cannelloni when i lived with her and I always preferred ricotta over meat. I'm looking so forward to trying out this recipe.