Quick Baked Cannelloni with Basil-Walnut Pesto
Fresh egg pasta, a ricotta-egg-pesto filling, extra nuts, baked under a fast tomato sauce
Baked cannelloni made properly — from fresh egg pasta dough, but kept weeknight-friendly. The filling is protein-forward — ricotta and eggs bound with parmesan, plus your choice of shredded chicken or white beans — folded through a basil pesto that leans hard on walnuts. The rolled tubes go into a quick garlicky tomato sauce, get a mozzarella blanket, and bake. Pressed for time? Swap the dough for no-boil tubes and you're at ~50 minutes.
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Cook with what you have
Snap a photo of your fridge or counter. We'll spot your ingredients and adapt this recipe to them on the spot — substitutions and a few ways to make it.
Ingredients
≈ 38g protein per serving · 152g total
Tip: tap an amount to set it, or change its unit — everything rescales to match.
- "00" flour — plain/all-purpose works too; keep extra for dusting
- largeeggs — the 100g flour : 1 egg ratio — more eggs, richer sheets
- olive oil — optional, for a more pliable dough
- pinchfine salt
- semolina — optional, for dusting the cut sheets
- fresh basil leaves — packed, large stems removed
- walnuts — "more nuts" — toast for 4 min for depth
- pine nuts — optional, for a classic edge
- parmesan — finely grated
- clovegarlic
- extra-virgin olive oil
- lemon — juice only, to brighten
- salt — to taste
- ricotta — drain if watery
- largeeggs — binds and enriches the filling
- parmesan — grated
- baby spinach — wilted, squeezed dry, chopped
- cooked shredded chickenpick protein — rotisserie works great
- can (400g)white beanspick protein — drained & lightly mashed — the veggie route
- nutmeg — a few grates
- salt & black pepper — to taste
- passata — or a 700g jar of plain tomato sauce
- clovesgarlic — thinly sliced
- olive oil
- pinchsugar — balances the tomato
- salt & a handful of torn basil — to taste
- rectanglesfresh pasta sheetspick pasta — ≈12×8cm, cut from the dough above
- tubesno-boil cannellonipick pasta — the shortcut — skip the dough entirely
- mozzarella — torn or grated
- parmesan — for the top
- small handfulwalnuts — roughly chopped, for crunch on top
Method
- 1
Make the dough
Mound the flour on a clean surface and make a wide well in the middle. Crack the eggs into it, add the salt and optional oil. Using a fork, beat the eggs, then gradually pull in flour from the inner walls of the well until a shaggy dough forms. (Short on time? Skip to step 4 and use no-boil tubes.)
- 2
Knead & rest
Bring the dough together and for 8–10 minutes, pushing it away with the heel of your hand and back, until smooth and elastic — it should spring back when poked. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes so the gluten relaxes.
- 3
Roll & cut sheets
Roll the dough thin (about 1–2mm — you should almost see your hand through it), dusting with flour as you go, then cut into roughly 12×8cm rectangles. You want about 16. Dust with semolina so they don't stick while you make the filling.
- 4
Make the pesto
Blitz basil, walnuts, pine nuts, parmesan and garlic to a coarse paste. With the motor running, stream in the olive oil. Loosen with the lemon juice, with salt. Keep it a touch chunky — it doesn't need to be silky for a filling.
- 5
Mix the filling
In a bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, parmesan, the wilted spinach, and your protein (shredded chicken OR mashed white beans). in about two-thirds of the pesto, reserving the rest. with nutmeg, salt and pepper. It should be thick and scoopable.
- 6
Quick sauce
Warm the olive oil in a pan, soften the sliced garlic for a minute (don't brown it), add the passata, sugar and a pinch of salt. 5 minutes, then stir in torn basil. Spread two-thirds across the base of a baking dish.
- 7
Fill & roll the tubes
Spoon the filling into a piping bag (or a zip bag with a corner snipped). Fresh sheets: them 1 minute in boiling water, lay flat, pipe a line of filling along one edge and roll into a tube. No-boil tubes: pipe straight in from both ends. Lay everything seam-down in a single layer over the sauce.
- 8
Top & bake
Spoon the rest of the sauce over the tubes, dot with the reserved pesto, then scatter mozzarella, parmesan and chopped walnuts. Cover with foil and bake at 200°C / 400°F for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 more until bubbling and golden. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Cook's notes
- Dough rests 30 minutes (passive) — start the pesto, filling and sauce while it relaxes and the whole thing still comes together fast.
- No pasta machine? A rolling pin and patience work — just roll as thin as you can and keep the surface floured.
- Protein, your call: shredded chicken keeps it ~38g protein/serving; white beans make it vegetarian at ~24g. Want both worlds? Use half chicken, half beans.
- Push protein higher: stir 2 extra egg whites or 100g cottage cheese into the filling, or use a high-protein ricotta.
- Nut swap: walnuts are the headline, but pecans or toasted hazelnuts are excellent. Skip pine nuts entirely if you like — just bump the walnuts to 80g.
- No-boil tubes need a wet sauce around them to soften — don't skimp on the passata, and keep the dish covered for the first 20 minutes.
- Make-ahead: assemble up to a day before, refrigerate, and add 5–10 minutes to the covered bake.