Butternut Squash Cannelloni with Ricotta & Sundried Tomatoes

Dieser Beitrag ist auch verfügbar auf: Deutsch (German)

These Butternut Squash Cannelloni are the perfect festive pasta dish for fall and winter ! Filled with roasted butternut, ricotta and parmesan cheese and then topped with a decadent sun-dried tomato & cream sauce!

Butternut Squash Cannelloni – an easy Italian pasta recipe your family will love!

Having moved from Calgary to the small town of Dawson Creek for a couple of months I am fully enjoying the advantages of living in a charming town with a close-knit community. I grew up in rural Bavaria and took small, pretty European towns for granted for most of my life, but now, I have learned to appreciate them for what they are – yes, I even crave it!

Now,I can walk to the grocery store and the vendors at the Farmer’s Market recognize me and even remember what I usually get! Which is mostly eggs and squashes nowadays. You won’t believe how good those squashes are! Today I show you my favorite pasta dish using butternut squash. My Butternut Squash Cannelloni with Ricotta and Sun-dried Tomatoes! Believe me, this pasta dish is simply impressive!

This is the perfect recipe for those odd baked pasta dish – cravings that one gets once in a while (and now, in fall, more than ever). It does not always have to be lasagna, right? Nor does it always have to have meat in it! Indeed, when it comes to cannelloni, I prefer a vegetarian version. Believe me, with these Butternut Squash Cannelloni no one will miss the meat!

For the Roasted Butternut & Ricotta Filling, you want to make sure you get a nice, ripe squash. Butternut, or, if you can find it, hokkaido! Ask at your local farmer’s market – they might have them. The starchier, the better! To the filling we add some parmesan to add a bit of a bite and (excuseme) umami to our dish. Yes, parmesan is an Umami Powerhouse – we put it in the filling AND on top of our Butternut Squash Cannelloni.

Recipe for Butternut Squash Cannelloni with Ricotta and Sundried Tomatoes

for 4 eaters

850 g buttnernut squash (or hokkaido squash)
4 Tbsp olive oil ( or oil from the dried tomatoes)
1 leek without the dark leaves, sliced
2 -3 garlic cloves
6 sundried tomatoes in oil

1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
100 ml white wine

100 ml broth
250 ml cream
4 twigs of fresh thyme
150 g parmesan
2 egg-sized balls of mozzarella
250 g Ricotta
16 Cannelloni Pasta tubes
pastry bag for piping the filling

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Peel and cut the squash into 2 cm cubes. Toss the cubes with 2 tbsp of oil and season with salt and pepper. Put the squash into a roasting pan and roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until tender.

In the meantime, wash the leek and cut the white part into thin slices.

Chop garlic and sundried tomatoes. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and butter on medium heat and saute the leek and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and let caramelize just the slightly. Add wine to the hot pan and let reduce a bit, then add broth and finally the cream and oregano. Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat.

Puree the roasted squash, adding a splash of milk or cream if it’s too starchy and let the puree cool down a bit. Add the thyme leaves, ricotta and 90 g of the grated parmesan. Season the filling with salt and pepper and pipe the filling into the cannelloni tubes using a pastry bag.

Take your casserole dish and add a couple of tbsp of the creamy sauce. Put a layer of filled cannelloni on top and pour the rest of the sauce on top. Slice the mozzarella and spread it in top. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on top of the cannelloni and drizzle with more olive oil.

Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for about 30 to 35 minutes. If your cheese browns too soon you can cover the casserole dish with some aluminum foil.

Let cool slightly to get cleaner pieces! Serve with a green salad.