Braised Lamb Cannelloni

Pasta making doesn’t have to stop on vacation. In fact, both the Rachel and I found ourselves rolling out dough over the holidays. While Rachel spent the day working in the kitchen filling a customer order and making some extra ravioli for tonight’s New Year’s festivities (more to follow!), I set up shop on my mom’s kitchen island in Fort Myers, FL to make fresh pasta sheets to use for a family cannelloni dinner. With a table set for 12, we knew we needed to make something that could be assembled ahead of time, and braised lamb cannelloni sounded like just the thing!

We started a day ahead of time by rolling out the pasta sheets and storing them between layers of parchment in the fridge. While I was rolling out the pasta, my mom took charge of the filling by braising the lamb with tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, garlic and wine wine. By the next day, the sauce had thickened and the meat fell apart easily into small shreds. To bulk up the filling (and make the dish the teeniest bit healthier), we added chopped steamed spinach. Since we prepared the meat, sauce and pasta ahead of time, we conveniently assembled each of the cannelloni rolls and set the dish aside.

Shortly before serving, my mom whipped up a simple béchamel with fresh herbs to pour over the cannelloni. We then topped the whole thing with shredded fontina and popped it in the oven until the cheese was bubbly and golden.

Just another dish that can be made with fresh pasta sheets! If you’re interested in ordering fresh sheets of pasta for your own lasagna or cannelloni, feel free to e-mail us at nellapasta@gmail.com (for local Boston/ South-Shore customers). Happy New Year’s everyone!