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Fish, Italy

Tuna and ricotta cannelloni with a side salad

Tuna and ricotta cannelloni are baked stuffed pasta tubes, serving 4 people, ready in 65 minutes, at medium difficulty, for €2.80 per person. The key to success is a filling well bound by egg and a tomato sauce that fully covers the tubes so they cook tender without any precooking.

Golden baked cannelloni, stuffed with tuna and ricotta, drowned in tomato sauce, a true Italian Sunday dish.

Tuna and ricotta cannelloni with a side salad
Total time
1 h 05
Difficulty
Medium
Cost per person
€2.80
Calories per person
620 kcalcalculated by Kiloach, your weight coach
Season
Winter, Fall, Spring
The kids
They generally like it

Tuna and ricotta make a soft, creamy filling, lifted by fresh parsley and parmesan that adds bite once baked golden. The raw cannelloni tubes cook straight in the tomato sauce, soaking up its flavor while staying soft under a crisp top. It's a pasta dish that breaks away from the usual bolognese without being hard to pull off.

This is the kind of recipe you make on a Sunday, when you have a bit more time to fill the tubes without rushing. Kids generally enjoy the tuna tucked into a creamy filling, and the dish pairs perfectly with a simple green salad. Mon Chou keeps this one in the rotation for fall and winter evenings when a hot, bubbling bake hits the spot.

The ingredients

4 people

Pantry

  • Cannelloni tubesoften in the pantry 250 g
  • Canned tuna in water 2 can
  • Tomato passataoften in the pantry 700 g
  • Olive oiloften in the pantry 2 tbsp
  • Saltoften in the pantry 1 pinch
  • Pepperoften in the pantry 1 pinch

Dairy

  • Ricotta 250 g
  • Egg 1
  • Grated parmesan 40 g

Fruits and vegetables

  • Flat leaf parsley 1 sprigs
  • Garlic 1 cloves
  • Green salad 1

Allergens Gluten, Fish, Lactose, Eggs

The step by step recipe

  1. Heat the passata with the crushed garlic and the oil for a few minutes, season with salt and pepper. 10 min

    A pinch of sugar tones down the acidity if the tomato tastes too sharp.

  2. Mix the drained and flaked tuna with the ricotta, egg, chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

    The egg binds the filling, it won't run out during baking.

  3. Fill the raw cannelloni tubes with the filling.

    No need to precook the tubes, they cook in the sauce.

  4. Spread a little sauce in a baking dish, line up the cannelloni, cover with the rest of the sauce and the parmesan.

    Make sure the tubes are fully covered with sauce, any exposed parts stay hard.

  5. Cover with foil and bake at 180°C, remove the foil for the last ten minutes to brown the top, then serve with the salad. 40 min

    Poke a cannelloni with the tip of a knife, it should slide in without resistance.

Our tips to get it right

  • Drain the tuna well before flaking it, a wet filling makes the cannelloni soggy.
  • Use a wide dish where the tubes fit in a single layer, they cook more evenly than when stacked.
  • If the sauce reduces too much during baking, add a splash of hot water halfway through so the tubes don't dry out.

The variations

  • Swap the tuna for flaked leftover cooked salmon, the texture stays close and the flavor shifts nicely.
  • For a vegetarian version, replace the tuna with cooked spinach, well squeezed dry, mixed with the ricotta.
  • For a quick weeknight version kids will love, use no-boil cannelloni tubes and cut the oven time by about ten minutes.

What to serve it with

  • A simple green salad
  • Bread for mopping up the sauce
  • A glass of sparkling lemon water

Storage

The cannelloni keep for 2 to 3 days in the fridge in a sealed container. They freeze very well once baked, reheat them in the oven covered with foil so they don't dry out.

Questions about this dish

Do you need to precook the cannelloni before stuffing them?

No, raw cannelloni tubes cook directly in the tomato sauce while baking. It's actually simpler and they soak up more flavor from the sauce this way.

Can you make this dish ahead of time?

Yes, you can stuff the cannelloni and cover them with sauce the day before, then keep them in the fridge. Bake them the next day, adding a few extra minutes of cooking time.

Can you replace the ricotta with another cheese?

You can use fresh curd cheese or thick cottage cheese instead of ricotta. The filling will be a touch firmer but the result still works well.

How do you know the cannelloni are fully cooked?

Poke a cannelloni with the tip of a knife, it should slide in without resistance. If the edges still feel hard, bake a few more minutes covered with foil.

How long does it take to make tuna and ricotta cannelloni with a side salad?

Count 1 h 05 in total, prep and cooking included. The recipe is rated “medium”.

How many calories are in tuna and ricotta cannelloni with a side salad?

About 620 kcal per serving, for a recipe meant for 4 people. Calories are calculated by Kiloach, your weight coach, the app that partners with Mon Chou.

How much does tuna and ricotta cannelloni with a side salad cost?

About €2.80 per serving, or €11.20 for 4 people, based on average supermarket prices.

What allergens does this recipe contain?

This recipe contains gluten, fish, lactose, eggs. Always check the labels of the products you buy.

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