Rachael Ray's Clever Trick For Making Cannelloni In A Pinch

When it comes to stuffed pasta, there are a number of different options out there. You've got pillowy ravioli, bite-size tortellini, and shell-shaped conchiglie. If you're after something a bit bigger, cannelloni aren't a bad choice. Just stuff these tube-shaped noodles with your favorite fillings, douse them in sauce, and enjoy a hearty and flavorful meal.

The trouble is, cannelloni noodles aren't something most people have sitting in their cupboards waiting to be cooked. Instead of running to the supermarket, Rachael Ray has a clever trick to get around this: Use lasagna noodles instead. Not only is this a quick and easy trick in a pinch, but it can also get around the messy process of actually filling the cannelloni. Instead, as Ray shared on the "Rachael Ray Show," you roll the filling right up into your pre-cooked lasagna squares, helping to minimize cleanup. And the best part? The dish looks and tastes just as nice!

To put this easy trick into action, the first step is to cook your lasagna noodles. Start by heating a pot of water until it's boiling, and don't forget to salt it, too. Salting the water gives your pasta some flavor and keeps the starch in check, which ultimately prevents the noodles from becoming sticky and unmanageable. For a pound of pasta, add between 1 and 2 tablespoons of salt to the water, depending on which type of salt you're using and how salty your cannelloni sauce is going to be.

From there, the next trick is to avoid cooking the pasta for long — just 6 minutes is long enough to get them slightly soft. Next, drain them off and spread them over a sheet of parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet until you're ready to add the filling. For this step, work with one lasagna square at a time, spreading a generous dollop of filling on one end of the noodle. Now, carefully roll them up and transfer them to your casserole dish with the seam side-down. All that's left is to finish the faux cannelloni with your chosen sauce toppings and add them to the oven.

Lasagna roll-ups are just as versatile as cannelloni noodles. To stuff them, you can go for a vegetarian ricotta pasta filling, letting the cheese be the star of the show or mixing in other ingredients like mushrooms or spinach. Another option is to add your favorite proteins to the mix. A lobster stuffing, for instance, can give your meal a decadent twist, perfect for an at-home date night. Or, you could do cannelloni di carne with ground beef, ground pork, or both. Feel free to play around with different proteins to come up with your favorite filling.

It's not just the filling that's versatile, either — you can play around with the sauce you pour over the cannelloni, too. For a creamy meal, a tasty bechamel sauce isn't a bad idea. Or, you could pour a hearty tomato sauce over the top instead, which can pair perfectly with hearty, meat-packed cannelloni. Just make sure that whatever sauce you choose complements the flavors of your filling. No matter what combinations you come up with, this easy lasagna sheet trick makes creating delicious stuffed pasta a breeze.