Holy moly, this is a long name! But this dish deserves this. Really. I know that I say this for pretty much every fall recipe, but this is fall comfort food at its finest. Pasta (heaven itself) stuffed with creamy ricotta and pumpkin with sage, all added into a dish, tossed in a creamy pumpkin sauce and baked in the oven with some feta. If your mouth is not watering by now then I don´t know what makes it do so.
What is special about this dish?
The combination of flavors. Usually you would only get stuffed cannelloni with a tomato sauce or a Bolognese sauce and stuffed with ricotta and spinach. But not this recipe. Instead of the normal filling we are making a fall filling! Roasted pumpkin that is flavored with sage in a creamy ricotta mixture. The pasta also is not tossed in tomato sauce but a creamy pumpkin sauce and topped with feta rather than mozzarella! A few twists that make a nice and fun change.
Is this dish healthy?
Yes-ish. Well, the main ingredient is pasta. Pasta is a great source of carbohydrates and also protein. It has always had the reputation of being unhealthy, but this is not true at all. Pasta gives you a lot of energy (and a lot of happiness too) but it is not super high in other nutrients. If you want a meal that is more nutrient dense, you could long for wholegrain pasta, which is a healthier option with more fiber and nutrients!
Then we have ricotta, which is sort of a cream cheese but Italian stye (anything Italian style is good!). It is lower in calories than cream cheese and has about half of the fat of it and more protein! Plus, it tastes super good. Besides this we also have eggs, which are a great source of vitamin B12, and protein and not to forget about the star of the show: the pumpkin!
Pumpkin is the food of the month of November, so you can actually read a bunch about it in my Nomvember top 5 blog post! It is not only a very tasty, and the most popular fall vegetable but it also Is low in calories and high in nutrients! A great addition to any meal!
How to make it:
I am going to be honest; this dish is a bit of work and takes some time (which we now have in quarantine). The filling of each and every cannelloni requires some patience, but it is a very fun cooking activity as a family or friends!
In terms of difficulty, this is not very challenging to make! You need to start with roasting the pumpkin with the sage and oil in the oven! In the meantime, you can boil the pasta. While this is boiling you can make the ricotta filling by mixing ricotta, Greek yoghurt, milk, vegetable broth and pumpkin. Fold in the rest of the pumpkin into the mixture.
Now you need patience. Fill every shell with the mixture and lay out in a baking dish. Pour over the sauce and crumble the feta! Now it just needs to be baked and then enjoyed with lots of enjoyment!
I hope that you will genuinely enjoy this super comforting yet healthyish recipe and that it will become one of your fall staples!
Oven Baked Stuffed Cannelloni with Sage Pumpkin Ricotta
Comforting, healthish, delicious. An amazing fall twist on the classic packed with flavor! Enjoy!
What you will need
- 1 hokkaido pumpkin (about 800g)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh sage
- 500 g cannelloni
- 300 g greek yoghurt
- 300 g ricotta
- 300 ml vegetable broth
- 100 ml milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamon
- 150 g feta cheese
How to
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Preheat the oven to 180°C. Peel the pumpkin and cut into about 1cm sized cubes. Finely chop up the sage. Mix the pumpkin with the sage and olive oil and lay out on a baking tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
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In the meantime boil the pasta according to package instructions but undercook them by 2 minutes.
In the meantime combine he greek yoghurt, ricotta cheese, egg, nutmeg, cardamon, salt and pepper until creamy. Fold in 2/3 of the roasted pumpkin.
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When the pumpkin is done baking, add 1/3 of it to a food processor along with the vegetable broth, milk, and about 1/4 of the ricotta mixture. Blend everything up until creamy.
Take one piece of pasta at a time and fill with abotu 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture. Lay into a baking tray and repeat until all pasta and all of the mixture is used up. If there is some more of the ricotta mixture left, just blend it into the sauce again.
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Once all the pasta is filled, pour the pumpkin sauce on top and crumble the feta. Bake at 220°C for another 5-7 minutes! Serve and enjoy!
Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière
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