Pumpkin cannelloni
 |
Ingredients
Pumpkin, marscapone, egg, passata tomatoes, mozarella, cheddar, smoked garlic, smoked chipotle chillis, white onion, sage
|
I love pumpkin, this time of year finds me baking pumpkin bread and making pumpkin soup and I always save some of the pumpkin puree to make cannelloni or ravioli with. When it comes to cannelloni I love to get creative - seeing people in the supermarket buying microwaveable spinach and ricotta cannelloni that I know will taste bland and have the texture of leather makes me feel so sad. It's so quick and easy to make. If you haven't already - check out my spinach & goats cheese, pork & apple and stilton & cashew cannelloni recipes.
1) Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and pith with a spoon. Make sure all the stringiness has been removed. Peel away the skin with a chef's knife and cut the flesh into cubes.
2) Roast in the oven in an ovenproof dish with a lid for 50 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the roast pumpkin and blend until smooth.
3) Sieve away the excess juice - this, along with the juice in the ovenproof dish should make about a pint of liquid. The liquid remaining from this recipe, along with the rest of the pumpkin puree is perfect for Pumpkin Soup.
4) Sage really brings out the warmth of pumpkin - finely chop about 5 large sage leaves and stir into the pumpkin puree. Beat together one egg and the marscapone, then whisk in 200 of the pumpkin puree. Put in the fridge to firm up.
5) Pumpkin loves spices so to make this sauce sautee half a very finely diced onion in about a teaspoon of chilli oil then pour in 250g of passata tomatoes.
6) Add half a bulb of smoked garlic, minced and a tablespoon of chopped smoked chipotle chillis and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Thank you to The Chilli Jam Man for the yummy smoked ingredients! Season with salt to taste.
7) Stuff 6 cannelloni tubes with the pumpkin mix using a teaspoon and rest in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce and top with 100g grated mozarella and cheddar. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes covered with foil and a further 5 minutes uncovered to allow the cheese to crisp.
