Non-Dairy and Gluten Free Cannelloni

One of my favorite restaurants is Mama Maria's in Hudson, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, some of my favorite dishes have dairy and gluten and with eliminating both of those things from my diet it makes it hard to get one of my favorite dishes there, Cannelloni Classico. It is fresh sheets of pasta wrapped around ham, sausage, spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella. Then it's baked and topped with tomato meat sauce or parmesan cream sauce. It is delicious!I was bound determined to recreate this dish gluten and dairy free. I have an amazing paleo pasta recipe that rivals homemade flour pasta, but if I'm not wanting to put a lot of effort in I will use Cappello's Lasagna sheets. Again, they rival homemade flour pasta. They are pricey, but so worth it. Whole Foods should carry them, but I know the one in Woodbury doesn't yet. I've put in a request to stock Cappello's pasta. The next challenge was finding a cheese replacement for it. I've tried many dairy free cheeses and none really live up to the originals. Then, Kite Hill came along and I fell in love. Their "cheese" is incredible. Again, it's an investment, but worth it. I found it at Whole Foods as well. Now on to the recipe.Non-Dairy Gluten Free Cannelloni

1 lb of mild sausage (I used Mullay's Mild Sausage)

1lb of hamburger

1/2 red onion

7 oz of packaged ham chopped

3 cups of fresh spinach

1 container of Kite Hill Ricotta

2 eggs

handful of parsley, chopped

handful of basil, chopped

32 oz Marinara

1 package of Cappello’s Lasagna Sheets

salt

pepper

nutmeg

garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown hamburger with diced red onion, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Once browned and onions have softened add marinara and basil and reduce heat to low to slow cook while you prepare the rest.

In a medium bowl beat 2 eggs, add ricotta, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Add chopped parsley and mix together and sit to the side.

In a separate skillet, brown sausage. I like to get mine a little crispy. Once cooked add chopped ham and spinach, cook on low until spinach is wilted.Add the sausage, ham, and spinach to the ricotta mixture and stir together.

Now to assemble the cannelloni. You will want to cut the lasagna sheets in half the short way. In the middle of the sheet add a dollop of meat and ricotta mixture and roll up. Place in a greased 9x13in pan. Continue until all the ricotta/meat mixture is gone. Top the cannelloni’s with the meat/marinara sauce leaving some back to top after it comes out of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!