Cannelloni

Cannelloni are hollow tubes of pasta made by rolling thin sheets of lasagne pasta into cylinders and stuffing them with contents within. Some historians claim that cannelloni's origins can be traced back to buckwheat crepes consumed in northern Italy's Valtellina area. These crepes were filled with a mixture of locally made cheeses, cabbage, and béchamel sauce. Others believe that cannelloni was invented in Campania during the first half of the nineteenth century, when a chef named Vincenzo Corrado mentioned a large pacchero (a smaller version of a cannelloni) in his cookbook, which he boiled, stuffed with meat and truffles, covered in a meat-based sauce, and baked.

Although the contents and sauces differ, cannelloni is still best cooked in a similar manner. In Campania, cannelloni is filled with a mixture of mozzarella, ricotta, and ham, but Roman versions ask for a meat-based filling as well as a meat ragù to drizzle over the pasta. A white cannelloni with béchamel and Parmesan is favored in the Umbria area of Italy. In certain regions of Italy, cannelloni is served as the first dish with a stuffing of spinach and ricotta with béchamel replacing tomato sauce and Parmesan.