Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday

This is when things started to go a little sideways.

That's okay though,  I lived to tell!

Instead of Spaghetti, I decided to make cannelloni.

A little more work, but it was fun to make.

Messy, but fun.

So I had oven ready cannelloni shells in my cupboard that had been saved for a rainy day.  Oven ready means you don't have to boil the pasta first.  You can fill the cannelloni and place in your baking dish and bake.  They soften and cook in the oven.    They also sell lasagna sheets like this too.  Fabulous!!!

Okay so here are the steps

The Sauce

I made a meat sauce from scratch, but please feel free to use your favourite jar of sauce.

I am all about keeping things simple.

Saute onion, and brown some ground beef in a pan.

Add a can of diced tomatoes,  and a can of tomato sauce and let simmer and reduce until the sauce has thickened.  

By reducing, I mean, that you are allowing the liquid to evaporate.  What you end up with is a thicker, richer sauce.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and perhaps italian spices (oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, garlic powder).

If you are using a jar of sauce, you probably don't need to add anything further for taste.  It will already be seasoned.

Place a ladle full of sauce in the bottom of your baking dish.

A nice saucey bed for your cannelloni.

The Filling

Place one container of Ricotta cheese in a bowl

Add one egg

A handful of Romano cheese

A handful of grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

A handful of chopped, fresh herbs (I used Italian flat leaf parsley and basil)

A tip for the Basil:

Pull off the leaves and lay all the leaves on top of one another.  Roll into a cigar and then starting at one end, chop the basil.  Making lots of little strands of basil.  This is called a chiffonade.

Mix the filling and get ready to get messy!

For filling the cannelloni.  I took a ziploc bag and snipped one of the corners.  Fill the ziploc with the cheesy, herby filling and then squeeze the mixture into the cannelloni shells.

It does get a little messy but lots of fun!

Place the filled shells in your prepared baking dish and cover with remaining sauce.

Top with parmesan cheese, cover with foil and bake according to the directions on the cannelloni box.

375 degrees for 40 minutes covered.

10 minutes more uncovered to get the cheese all nice and toasty!

Very kid friendly!!!

Enjoy!