Cannelloni

         I hate onions. I have shed more tears over onions than anything else in my life, which is saying a lot since I cry over almost anything (I even cried when Andy gave away his toys at the end of Toy Story 3).  I don’t even have to be cutting the onions either.  Their presence alone makes my eyes water for hours afterwards.  Can your eyes have a food allergy?  Because I feel like mine do.

          Despite my apparent allergic reaction to the onions, this was a great recipe; although it is not one you would want to attempt unless you are either 1) an advanced cook 2) have the help of advanced cooks   3) stupidly adventurous and willing to go hungry if you mess up.  However, Annie and Tony didn’t really follow a recipe, so perhaps this recipe is as malleable as the homemade pasta Annie and Tony whipped up.  Annie and Tony have surpassed the phase of cooking where a recipe is needed.  Their cooking has become a smorgous board of past experience and knowledge, with a large dollop of creativity and improvisation mixed in.  They are like the jazz artists who no longer need sheet music; they can simply taste a timbre of the style and follow where it takes them, creating in every step. 

           If you don’t quite understand the following recipe, it’s because there wasn’t one.  I kept trying to pin Annie and Tony down on definitive’s, but like the jazz artists, their creativity could not be well transcribed into understandable sheet music for us less creative cooks.  So you can try to follow my instructions, or if they seem to convoluted to you, try this recipe which is similar to what Annie and Tony made (minus the pork): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pork-spinach-and-ricotta-manicotti-recipe/index.html

          Besides the fact that Annie and Tony don’t need to follow recipes anymore, they also make everything themselves, so explaining this recipe becomes even more complicated.  So let’s start with the pasta.  Cannelloni is homemade pasta that has not been dried, and typically means that you need to make it yourself.  The recipe is as follows:

Cannelloni

                2 cups Semolina flour (this is the typical pasta flour)

                2 cups whole wheat flour

                Mix together the fours with some water. I really have no idea how much water they put in, but it was about the consistency of sugar dough.  After letting the dough sit for an hour we rolled it out and cut it into rectangles.  We then filled the rectangles with the following:

Fresh Ricotta

½ Gallon whole milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 Tb of lemon juice

Warm milk and cream to roaring boil.  Add lemon juice. Turn down heat cook till it curdles (whatever that means)

*Or you could be lazy like me and go to Wal-Mart and buy ricotta. 

Fresh Parmesan

 1 ½ cups Fresh Mozzarella (or 2 cups if your me or Hannah, and you are going to eat about ½ cup before you bake it).

Italian Seasoning

One onion

After we filled the rectangles and rolled them up, we put them in pan, covered them with pasta sauce, and let them bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.