Kani to horenso no kaneroni / cannelloni with crabmeat and spinach

A tasty combination of crab and spinach, wrapped in thin fresh pasta and topped with tomato sauce with a little bit of cream.

<Ingredients>

(Serves 2-4)

Small handful (70-100 g) crabmeat
1 bunch (250-300 g) spinach
50-60 g ricotta or cottage cheese
120-140 cc tomato sauce
1 tbsp heavy cream
Parmesan cheese or parmigiano reggiano
Salt & pepper, to taste
Olive oil (not in photo)

Pasta (lasagna-cut sheets rolled out at the thinnest setting; not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Prepare filling. Blanch spinach, squeeze out extra water, and chop.

In a bowl, put spinach, ricotta cheese, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

Add crabmeat and mix again (keep lumpy crabmeat intact), and set aside.

2.

Mix heavy cream in tomato sauce.

Thinly coat a baking dish with  olive oil, and drizzle in some tomato + heavy cream sauce.

3.

Cook pasta.

Remove from boiling water, and spread on dry towel. Put filling and roll.

4.

Place cannelloni in baking dish, top with remaining sauce, and grate Parmesan cheese.

5.

Bake at 390-400 F (200 C) for 30 minutes or until top is lightly brown.

<Notes>

• Reduce tomato sauce to 100 cc for lighter results. 200 cc would make this dish very rich, which almost kills the effect of thin pasta.
• For even lighter results, use narrower pasta to minimize the overlapping area when rolled.
• If spinach + ricotta cheese mixture looks whiter than in the photo above, the proportion of ricotta cheese is too high, which makes this dish taste "muddy" and boring. Moderation, moderation. Too much is never good.
• Do not add too much parmesan cheese. If using parmigiano reggiano (much saltier than regular parmigiano), use less salt in the filling.