The Thin Red Line

Almost everyone enjoys cheesy pasta baked in a rich red sauce, but what about the fat? Cheesy looks can be deceiving.

This recipe for cannelloni is filled with a mixture of nonfat ricotta cheese, spinach and Parmesan cheese. Use a good Parmigiano-Reggiano for the most flavor with the least fat. I found it worked very well to pipe the filling into the cooked shells rather than trying to spoon it in.

The sauce is made with fresh tomatoes. They should be fully ripe for the sauce to be really flavorful. Dried mushrooms give a rich “meaty” flavor to the sauce. I found dried porcini mushrooms in the produce section of my market that were full-flavored and moist enough to chop.

This recipe makes enough for two substantial servings but may easily be doubled or tripled.

STUFFED CANNELLONI WITH PORCINI TOMATO SAUCE

6 cannelloni shells

1 small onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Olive oil cooking spray

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

8 basil leaves, shredded, plus 1 tablespoon chopped

Salt

1/3 cup finely chopped dried porcini mushrooms

2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese

1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons nonfat egg substitute

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 pound fresh spinach, chopped

Cook cannelloni shells in plenty of boiling salted water until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels and pat dry. Cover and set aside.

Saute onion and 2 minced cloves garlic in medium saucepan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, shredded basil leaves and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook over low heat until mixture becomes hot and juices begin to come out of tomatoes. Stir in porcini mushrooms. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until sauce forms and tomatoes fall apart, about 15 minutes.

Combine ricotta cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, chopped basil, egg substitute, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Saute remaining 2 cloves garlic in skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray until tender, about 1 minute. Stir in spinach and saute until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze excess juices out of spinach and stir into cheese mixture.

Pipe cheese filling into cannelloni shells. Arrange 3 filled shells in each of two oval baking dishes sprayed with cooking spray. Pour on tomato sauce and sprinkle 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese over top of each. Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.

2 servings. Each serving:

406 calories; 448 mg sodium; 15 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 73 grams carbohydrates; 29 grams protein; 5.58 grams fiber.