I need to expand my non-meat meat repertoire for times when my vegetarian friends come by. So, after receiving a recommendation from my supervisor (with whom I’m always talking about food), I’ve decided to make stuffed cannellonis.

I bought a box of ‘ready to bake’ cannellonis shells the (Catelli Express brand) and followed the instructions in the back.

• 12-14 ready to bake cannelloni shells
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or basil (because i did not have fresh on hand, I used 1 tbps dried basil)
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 1/3 cup of ricotta or cottage cheese (I used ricotta)
• 1 jar (700 mL) Pasta Sauce (I used Catelli’s Garden Select: Beef and Mushroom since my freind wasn’t coming—any tomato based sauce will do)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 250 ml water
• I also added half a cup of parmesian cheese
• I also added 150 g of chopped spinach

Instructions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the cheeses, the oil, the spinach, the onion, the carrot, the herbs, the seasoning and the egg.

In a baking dish, add half of the jar of sauce to 100 ml of water and fill the bottom.

Stuff the cannellonis (it’s easiest if you wash your hands well and stuff them using your fingers) and place them on top of the sauce in the baking dish.

Once all the cannellonis are stuffed (12-14 shells), add the remainder of the water to the remainder of the unused sauce, stir, and cover all the cannellonis.

Place the baking dish into the over and bake for 45 minutes, or until shells are soft. Then enjoy!

They look and smell delicious :-)