In this recipe, chef Massimo Martina offers a really tasty first course: spinach yellow cannelloni with Montebore béchamel. What does it have more than the others? A béchamel made with Montebore, a raw milk cheese from Val Borbera for 30% sheep and 70% cow’s milk. How to get a perfect result? By following all the steps carefully, because, as the chef points out, haste is the enemy of good food!

HOW IS IT PREPARED?

ingredients

  • without dried fruit
  • without shellfish

For pasta:

  • 150 g of flour 00
  • 100 g of durum wheat semolina flour
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 sachets of saffron
  • grated parmesan cheese
  • salt
  • pepper

For the stuffing:

  • 600 g of spinach
  • 250 g of Montebore ricotta

For the bechamel:

  1. 250 g of Montebore cheese
  2. 200 ml of milk
  3. 50 ml of fresh cream
  4. 50 g of flour 00
  5. 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil
  6. nutmeg

Preparation

  1. To prepare the spinach yellow cannelloni with Montebore béchamel, dissolve the saffron in a little water. Mix the flours with the egg yolks, the water with the saffron and salt (make sure this operation does not last less than 20 minutes, otherwise you risk not having worked the nerve of the flours well and the dough may crack).
  2. Prepare the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, after having cleaned and washed the spinach, prepare a pan with a knob of butter, where you can cook them over high heat, for a few minutes (the spinach must be slightly wilted and are also crunchy). Leave to cool.
  3. Roll out the dough with the aid, if available, of a pasta machine, making rectangles of thin dough all the same with a length of about 10 cm. Flour and leave to rest.
  4. Prepare the béchamel by chopping the shape of the cheese (Montebore possibly not too seasoned) in a blender to obtain a paste that will subsequently be melted in a bain-marie, with the help of a little milk.
  5. In a separate pan, over a moderate heat, add the flour to the oil. Then, add the Montebore cream with a pinch of salt and a little grated nutmeg and cook slowly for about 10 minutes. Finally add the cream until you get the right consistency.
  6. Coarsely chop the spinach with a knife and combine them, in a bowl, with the Montebore ricotta (without further seasoning, because the ricotta is already quite tasty).
  7. Blanch the rectangles of dough (which must take a few seconds), pour them with a slotted spoon, dry them and spread them on a work surface. Place a spoon or two of the spinach and ricotta mixture in the center of the rectangle of pasta and, wrapping the pasta around itself, form a cannelloni.
  8. After having completely filled the pan with the cannelloni, cover them with the béchamel and the whole with parmesan. Put in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 °. Serve the dish on the table, garnishing with a little hot bechamel sauce. The spinach yellow cannelloni with Montebore bechamel are ready to be served!