Cannelloni alla Madonita

This post for Presto Pasta Nights is all about what not to do.  Well, not ALL, but a few things to consider anyway.  The idea was to make cannelloni, using those nifty little Nasoya egg roll wraps, which were very successful in my Lemon Feta Ravioli.  This is another perfect application for them.  They work excellently for cannelloni.  It was just me.  Two mistakes which you can easily avoid.  Which I should have avoided, since I've made cannelloni so many times.  One would think it could have been done blindfolded.  It's good to learn from the errors of others.  Saves doing a botch job yourself.

Numero uno, don't crowd your pan.  Use a bigger one.  If they are touching, they will stick.  Still tasting good, but the presentation and serving is marred. And we foodies HATE that.  Next, butter the bottom of the dish, or put a bit of the sauce there, also so they won't stick.  Do you get what happened?  Everything stuck. Other than that, it was just fine.  Smiley face.

 Nasoya wraps are basically egg pasta, soft and with a fairly short fridge shelf life.  Here you can see how I stupidly jammed too many in the pan, wanting to use up all that lovely hash, and have enough for my extra guest.  We learn from our failures though, right?

I used a filling composed very frugally of left-over Lamb Stew with Mushrooms and Sweet Peppers from the Madonie, which I made for Sunday dinner.  A great recipe from Joyce Goldstein's Italian Slow and Savory, it was an OK meal,  with a small problem of its own (no fault of the recipe) .  I'll blame it all on the downside of not having a local butcher, whom you know and do business with on a regular basis.  Purchased from my usually wonderful and favorite Natural Foods store, bagged as "lamb for stew."  All right, but it was not labeled properly.  That should have read, "Lamb bones, gristle and TINY bits of meat for soup stock."  Eating it was an exercise in patience.  Bob just mostly avoided.

So, this re-do was all about saving out those bitty bits of meat with the stew, mincing and reincarnating it.  The recipe is fairly simple.  You remove bones and gristle, chop everything, converting your stew into a nice thick hash, adding whatever flavorings, salt, pepper, etc., might be needed, and roll it into neat little packages.  Then top with a nice marinara sauce, some shredded fresh Parmesan and, voila.  Cannelloni.

Be sure to butter the bottom of the dish first.  Cover with foil, bake in a 375 F oven for 15 minutes, and serve with a bit more grated cheese on top, and a crisp green salad.  In the past, I've always made my cannelloni with left-over crepes, but this is another, and equally good option.  Be sure to check out all the other fantastic recipes on the round-up at Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this time by Chaya at Comfy Cook.