Among the many iconic first courses of Italian cuisine, famous by us as well as abroad, cannelloni are among the most recent. Although there is no certain information about their invention, it is possible to retrace its history, between theories and testimonies, going up to the present day and to the many recipes and main regional varieties.

The hypotheses on the origin of cannelloni in Italian cuisine

By definition cannelloni are a rich first course of Italian cuisine consisting of many rectangles of fresh pasta that are rolled up on themselves, stuffed inside with a salty filling (generally a mixture of ricotta and spinach or a flavored ragù) and then covered with bechamel and parmesan or a tomato sauce and cooked in the oven. In some regions of Italy, such as Emilia Romagna, Umbria and Marche, only fresh pasta with a cylindrical sauce is also called "cannelloni" .

In the many hypotheses formulated on the mysterious birth of cannelloni , we started first of all from the similarity that exists with other stuffed and baked first courses, such as salted and rolled crepe or stuffed pasta timbale, which are candidates for their potential ancestors . Similar are, for example, the buckwheat crepes , typical of the Valtellina and based on the same flour also used for the pizzoccheri, which are stuffed with local cheeses of your choice or with cabbage and bitto, and seasoned with bechamel.

The first written record in which such a pasta shape is mentioned is that of the Arezzo cook Gio Batta Magi, who mentioned among his Tuscan recipes a "succulent timbale of cannelloni". However, it is said that their birth occurred shortly afterwards in Campania, more or less in the first half of the nineteenth century. At the time the Neapolitan cook Vincenzo Corrado mentioned in his book "The Cook Galante" the recipe for a large pacchero , first boiled and then filled with a stuffing made with meat and truffles and then covered with a meat sauce and baked.

Although the invention of the cannelloni remains uncertain and although there are few writings and cookbooks of the time that referred to it, it is assumed that this was initially a poor dish and a collection of leftovers , consumed especially during the holidays.

Regional variants and curiosities

Currently, between traditional recipes and modern and creative reinterpretations, in Italy it is possible to come across hundreds of variations that present sauces, flours and in general always different ingredients and characteristics. Among the best known regional recipes there are for example cannelloni alla sorrentina or napoletana , which are stuffed with mozzarella from Campania, sheep ricotta and cooked ham; then there are the Roman ones, with meat ragu present both in the filling and in the sauce, and finally the Umbrian ones, stuffed with a classic beef ragout but seasoned in white, only with bechamel and grated parmesan.

Finally, some curiosities about cannelloni . Someone speculates that this pasta was even already known at the time of the ancient Romans , that Cicero was fond of it and that their name was inspired by the "cannelli", or rather large perforated cylinders, but even for this theory there is not enough evidence.

Of the name "cannelloni" currently, especially abroad, there are several variations , including "sleeves" or "sleeves", while the English term most used to indicate this plane is "cannelloni", in the singular.

by Ivana De Innocentis
Revised, corrected and expanded by the Tumn® editorial staff