This is a recipe I have enjoyed at our annual tomato tasting ceremony in late August, as we critique the summer’s tomato bounty. It’s adapted from Alice Water’s “The Chez Panisse Caf Cookbook.”
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs (bail, marjoram, thyme and parsley)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 pound green spinach pasta (spinach lasagna noodle sheet) (Available fresh from Vellegia’s carry-out in Little Italy — call a day ahead)
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 pounds vine-ripened yellow tomatoes (about 4)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
green and purple basil
salt and pepper
Mix the ricotta with the Parmesan, salt and pepper, cayenne and herbs. Taste for the seasonings, add egg, and mix again. Roll out the lasagna sheet and cut it into 8 rectangles, each about 6 to 7 inches. Cook the pasta 1 piece at a time in salted boiling water, keeping it firmly al dente, about 1 minute. (Place in cold water bath to stop the cooking process.) Lift carefully and lay the rectangles on a clean dish towel. Don’t stack them or they will stick together hopelessly.
Put 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling on each rectangle and roll loosely into a tube shape. In a buttered baking dish, arrange tubes into a layer and brush tops with melted butter. Cover and loosely store in refrigerator for up to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel, seed and dice tomatoes. Bake the cannelloni for about 15 minutes, until puffed and slightly crisped. While the cannelloni are baking, quickly make the tomato sauce. In a heavy-bottomed enameled or stainless steel pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic; let it sizzle for a moment without browning, and add the diced tomatoes. Cook just until the tomatoes start to relax and become juicy, about 3 to 5 minutes. In the last minute of cooking, toss in a little chopped green and purple basil and salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.
Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust 2-piece caps and process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. Yields about 6 pints.
