“Pasta is the food – if not of love – certainly of close companionship.”

- Anna del Conte from Portrait of Pasta

Cannelonio, in Italian, means “big pipes,” and that’s what these tubes of pasta are. Over the centuries, Nice felt the impact of invaders from north, south, east, and west; consequently the Niçoise cuisine is eclectic. Although the cannelloni is Italian, the dish has been prepared in Nice for sol long it merits the title Canneloni Niçoise.

 

Pasta

Cut thin pasta sheets in 4-inch by 3-inch rectangles. Cook them for 1 minute in a pot of boiling, salted water, and then lay them out on a towel to dry.

Tomato Sauce

2 pounds tomatoes, very ripe, quartered

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons tomato paste

3 strips bacon (chopped)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 bouquet garni (8stems of parsley, 1 bay leaf, 3 stems of thyme, tied together)

1 pinch sugar

Salt and pepper

Sauté the onion and bacon in olive oil, cooking very slowly for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and bouquet garnish, and cook covered for 45 minutes.

Add garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar, and cook for another 10 minutes, the remove from heat.

 

Filling

1 pound cleaned fresh spinach

½ pound cooked meat (daube, roasted pork, veal, or chicken)

1 cup cooked rice (optional)

1 onion, chopped

1 cup Swiss cheese, grated

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Cook spinach in salted water for about 2 minutes. Crain and squeeze out all the water, Cook onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until it’s transparent.

Grind spinach, onion, meat, and rice in a meat grinder. Mix ground ingredients with egg, salt, pepper, and the rest of the olive oil.

 

Assembly

Place 3 to 5 tablespoons of stuffing and the pasta squares and roll them up into “big pipes” – cannelloni. Arrange the past rolls in a gratin dish and spoon some tomato sauce over them. Sprinkle both Parmesan and Swiss cheese over the cannelloni and bake slowly until the cheese is browned.

Serves 4

Recommended Wines

Côtes de Provence Rouge, Côtes du Rhone, Sauvignon Blanc