Wonton Cannelloni In Tomato Sauce

This is my idea of a beautiful fusion dish. Here, Chinese wonton wrappers are used in place of Italian pasta to reduce the prep time of an otherwise time-consuming dish. Skip the step of boiling the pasta and simply assemble your ricotta filling directly into the soft and pliable wonton wrappers.  Voila...you have a quick family-pleasing meal that looks as if it took hours to make but was really put together in about 30 minutes.

It's as simple as making a quick tomato sauce in a blender; whipping some ricotta with eggs and chives; grating a little cheese; and filling the wonton wrappers. A quick 20 minutes in the oven and you're ready to go. A little salad or green veg on the side and everyone will think you're a genius for making a delicious dinner in no time at all! This one is going in the files for those busy weeknights.

Wonton Cannelloni in Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Fast Food My Way

by Jacques Pepin

Serves 4-6

1 (28-ounce) can Italian-style tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1pound ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 package of wonton skins

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Note: The size of your wontons will dictate how many wonton skins you'll need in order to use all the ricotta filling. Pepin's recipe calls for 6, but his must have been very large.  I 

had to use about 20 smaller wonton skins to use all my filling.

Heat the oven to 375F. Put the tomatoes with their liquid, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of the salt, half of the pepper, the olive oil, and the Italian seasoning in a food processor and process until smooth.

Mix the ricotta, eggs, remaining salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the chives in a bowl.

Pour 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce into a rectangular baking dish (about 11x9). Place a few spoonfuls (depending on the size of your wonton) of the ricotta mixture into the middle of each wonton.  Bring the two opposite sides of the wonton skin over the cheese filling to enclose it, creating a roll. Repeat with the remaining wonton skins until you've used all the filling. Arrange the wontons seam side down, lined up in a row next to one another in the dish.

Pour the remaining sauce over the cannelloni (it will fill the spaces between the cannelloni and even out the surface).  Place the baking dish on a cookie sheet, sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses on top, and bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the cannelloni with the remaining 2 tablespoons chives and serve immediately.