Cannelloni with pumpkin and ricotta cheese: the original Italian recipe

The cannelloni with pumpkin and ricotta cheese are a mix of creaminess, sweetness and incomparable flavor. The perfect alternative to the more classic cannelloni with ricotta cheese and spinach or to those with ragu sauce.

You can choose to use both pasta bought at the supermarket or fresh homemade egg pasta.

For the cannelloni with pumpkin and ricotta cheese, the secret is always the right balance between stuffing and pasta. Remember, every morsel will be an explosion of taste if the pasta will be thin and the stuffing creamy and tasty.

Instructions

Clean and cut the pumpkin into small pieces.
In a pan, start to fry the onion with the oil (1).
When the onion is golden brown, add pumpkin and salt (2). After about 5 minutes, add the vegetable broth and sage (3).

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Step 1

Clean and cut the pumpkin into small pieces.
In a pan, start to fry the onion with the oil 1.
When the onion is golden brown, add pumpkin and salt 2. After about 5 minutes, add the vegetable broth and sage 3.

Let cook until the pumpkin has absorbed all the broth (4) and it will be soft enough to be crushed with a fork and, only at the end of cooking, add pepper.
Blend everything with an immersion blender (5) to obtain a slightly coarse cream (6).

In a fairly large bowl, crush the ricotta cheese with the help of a fork 7, add the chopped smoked ham 8 and the pumpkin cream 9. Amalgamate everything well until you get a homogeneous stuffing.

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Step 4

Let cook until the pumpkin has absorbed all the broth 4 and it will be soft enough to be crushed with a fork and, only at the end of cooking, add pepper.
Blend everything with an immersion blender 5 to obtain a slightly coarse cream 6.

Prepare the béchamel sauce paying attention to the roux: melt the butter, add the flour and cook until the mixture detaches from the bottom of the pot. Add the milk slowly, continuing to mix. Cook over low heat stirring as much as possible until the sauce starts to thicken. Add salt and nutmeg.
Transfer the stuffing into a pastry bag and stuff the cannelloni (10).

Spread a layer of béchamel sauce on the bottom of the pan or the baking dish 11 and place your cannelloni 12.

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Step 7

In a fairly large bowl, crush the ricotta cheese with the help of a fork 7, add the chopped smoked ham 8 and the pumpkin cream 9. Amalgamate everything well until you get a homogeneous stuffing.

Cover with a few tablespoons of béchamel sauce (13), spread a little Parmesan cheese (14) and bake in a static oven for 35 minutes at 190° C.
Serve your hot cannelloni (15).

How to prepare egg pasta for cannelloni

To prepare the egg pasta for your cannelloni, pour the flour inside on a pastry board, make a hole in the center and insert the eggs inside and knead them until you get a smooth, firm and elastic dough. Put it under a glass container or wrap it with some film and let it rest for about 1 hour so as to allow it to acquire the correct elasticity.
After the rest time of the dough, roll it out by hand or with the appropriate machine. Make some squares and cook them for 30 seconds in plenty of boiling salted water. Drain and arrange them first on a kitchen towel and then on a table. Transfer the stuffing into a pastry bag and place along a side of the pasta a strip of stuffing.
Roll the pasta on itself to form your cannelloni.

Which ricotta cheese to choose

The ideal ricotta cheese for cannelloni with pumpkin and ricotta cheese must be as dry as possible from its whey. It is recommended the sheep one, that is more delicate.

Tips

– Cannelloni is a great pasta to be stuffed, but be careful with the stuffing, it must be quite hard, and it is certainly not recommended to use creams or sauces that would be lost in the oven dish or pan during cooking.
– If you are particularly fond of pumpkin, you can make a béchamel sauce enriched with pumpkin puree, it will not only give more flavor to the dish, but it will be also chromatically inviting.
– If the pumpkin becomes too liquid after mixing it, let it cook for a few minutes in the same pan until the cream has reached the desired consistency.
– The moisture of the cream and ricotta cheese play a fundamental role for the consistency of the stuffing and the consequent success of the dish. Neither one nor the other must be excessively moist.