We had enough turkey to last til next Thanksgiving, so we're doing
Italian. The problem is how to fill the cannelloni with the cheese and
sausage mix and not break them or have horrible gaps and air voids.

Here's the fix:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a64i75enwdqxxxc/Pasta_Pusher.jpg?raw=1

I have three washer sizes ready because some of the things aren't
perfectly round tubes, kinda squashed.

On Sunday, December 25, 2022 at 4:20:12 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
> We had enough turkey to last til next Thanksgiving, so we're doing
> Italian. The problem is how to fill the cannelloni with the cheese and
> sausage mix and not break them or have horrible gaps and air voids.
>
> Here's the fix:
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/a64i75enwdqxxxc/Pasta_Pusher.jpg?raw=1
>
> I have three washer sizes ready because some of the things aren't
> perfectly round tubes, kinda squashed.

What's the matter with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOfFjksKZcs

You may have to mix some water into your sausage mix, which some sites say improves its flavor and uniformity.

On Sun, 25 Dec 2022 18:25:22 -0800 (PST), Fred Bloggs
<bloggs.fredbloggs.fred@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Sunday, December 25, 2022 at 4:20:12 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
>> We had enough turkey to last til next Thanksgiving, so we're doing
>> Italian. The problem is how to fill the cannelloni with the cheese and
>> sausage mix and not break them or have horrible gaps and air voids.
>>
>> Here's the fix:
>>
>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/a64i75enwdqxxxc/Pasta_Pusher.jpg?raw=1
>>
>> I have three washer sizes ready because some of the things aren't
>> perfectly round tubes, kinda squashed.
>
>What's the matter with this:
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOfFjksKZcs
>
>You may have to mix some water into your sausage mix, which some sites say improves its flavor and uniformity.

We had chunks of browned sweet Italian sausage in the fill, which
doesn't flow well.

My Pasta Piston (c) (tm) (pat pend) worked great.

Il 25/12/2022 22:20, John Larkin ha scritto:
> We had enough turkey to last til next Thanksgiving, so we're doing
> Italian. The problem is how to fill the cannelloni with the cheese and
> sausage mix and not break them or have horrible gaps and air voids.
>
> Here's the fix:
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/a64i75enwdqxxxc/Pasta_Pusher.jpg?raw=1
>
> I have three washer sizes ready because some of the things aren't
> perfectly round tubes, kinda squashed.
>

the trick is the following:

https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Cannelloni.html

see figures 28 to 30 ;-)

usually we ( in Italy ) don't use cylindrical pre-made "cannelloni" but
sheet of pasta, for dry pasta you need to pre-boil tha pasta, for fresh
egg-based pasta ( as the recipe ) is not needed

P.S. : for the stuffing follow your personal taste

just some ideas :

fresh cheese ( ricotta ) and/or bechamel and
1) spinach
2) mushrooms
3) minced meat ( or ragu' )
4) 1+3 ;-)

with some effort the recipes can even be done "vegan"

On Tue, 3 Jan 2023 16:06:56 +0100, mmm <m.colandrea@libero.it> wrote:

>Il 25/12/2022 22:20, John Larkin ha scritto:
>> We had enough turkey to last til next Thanksgiving, so we're doing
>> Italian. The problem is how to fill the cannelloni with the cheese and
>> sausage mix and not break them or have horrible gaps and air voids.
>>
>> Here's the fix:
>>
>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/a64i75enwdqxxxc/Pasta_Pusher.jpg?raw=1
>>
>> I have three washer sizes ready because some of the things aren't
>> perfectly round tubes, kinda squashed.
>>
>
>the trick is the following:
>
>https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Cannelloni.html
>
>see figures 28 to 30 ;-)
>
>usually we ( in Italy ) don't use cylindrical pre-made "cannelloni" but
>sheet of pasta, for dry pasta you need to pre-boil tha pasta, for fresh
>egg-based pasta ( as the recipe ) is not needed
>
>P.S. : for the stuffing follow your personal taste
>
>just some ideas :
>
>fresh cheese ( ricotta ) and/or bechamel and
>1) spinach
>2) mushrooms
>3) minced meat ( or ragu' )
>4) 1+3 ;-)
>
>with some effort the recipes can even be done "vegan"
>

We got rigid tube pasta and I added pretty big chunks of browned sweet
Italian sausage to most of them (Mo's were vegeterian, spinach and
mushrooms and ricotta) so the usual squirter tricks wouldn't work.
Being an engineer, I wanted a perfect void-free fill.

Sounds like everyone had enough turkey at Thanksgiving and switched to
pasta for Christmas. Maybe demand, maybe some supply chain issue, but
there were no lasigna noodles to be had anywhere in San Francisco, so
we went for the tubes.

Ours looked like the ones in your link, but more fresh tomato sauce
below and a layer of bechamel on top, which browns beautifully.

Mo is Italian and inherited a lot of great Italian recipes. I'm from
New Orleans. And there is the San Francisco component, crabs and
salmon and sourdough and steam beer. The resulting hybrid cuisine is
interesting.

Imagine being a cow and eating grass all day. Or being some poor
person in Somalia and eating anything you can find.

On 03/01/2023 15:52, John Larkin wrote:

<snip>

> Imagine being a cow and eating grass all day.

I imagine that would be luxury for many cows, particularly in the US and
increasingly so here.

--
Cheers
Clive

On 1/3/2023 8:06 AM, mmm wrote:
> usually we ( in Italy ) don't use cylindrical pre-made "cannelloni" but sheet
> of pasta, for dry pasta you need to pre-boil tha pasta, for fresh egg-based
> pasta ( as the recipe ) is not needed

+1

If you're not making the pasta, as well, why bother?

(personally, I'd prefer cavatelli -- ideally, with chestnut flour. but,
a lot of work and a pound barely feeds one!)

> P.S. : for the stuffing follow your personal taste
>
> just some ideas :
>
> fresh cheese ( ricotta ) and/or bechamel and
> 1) spinach
> 2) mushrooms
> 3) minced meat ( or ragu' )
> 4) 1+3 ;-)

Spinach and VERY small pieces of potato (like in
scacciata)

> with some effort the recipes can even be done "vegan"

I think some would object to the egg.

Q: what is a "packet" of vanilla? I want to make some
biscotti al latte and each Rx refers to vanilla in that
quantity (here, we would measure volumetrically)

On Tue, 3 Jan 2023 10:15:01 -0700, Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid>
wrote:

>On 1/3/2023 8:06 AM, mmm wrote:
>> usually we ( in Italy ) don't use cylindrical pre-made "cannelloni" but sheet
>> of pasta, for dry pasta you need to pre-boil tha pasta, for fresh egg-based
>> pasta ( as the recipe ) is not needed
>
>+1
>
>If you're not making the pasta, as well, why bother?
>
>(personally, I'd prefer cavatelli -- ideally, with chestnut flour. but,
>a lot of work and a pound barely feeds one!)
>
>> P.S. : for the stuffing follow your personal taste
>>
>> just some ideas :
>>
>> fresh cheese ( ricotta ) and/or bechamel and
>> 1) spinach
>> 2) mushrooms
>> 3) minced meat ( or ragu' )
>> 4) 1+3 ;-)
>
>Spinach and VERY small pieces of potato (like in
>scacciata)
>
>> with some effort the recipes can even be done "vegan"
>
>I think some would object to the egg.
>
>Q: what is a "packet" of vanilla? I want to make some
>biscotti al latte and each Rx refers to vanilla in that
>quantity (here, we would measure volumetrically)
>

Mo makes fabulous biscotti - it takes two days - and I'll see if I can
post her recipe.

I like them chocolate dipped.

Il 03/01/2023 18:15, Don Y ha scritto:
> On 1/3/2023 8:06 AM, mmm wrote:
>> usually we ( in Italy ) don't use cylindrical pre-made "cannelloni"
>> but sheet of pasta, for dry pasta you need to pre-boil tha pasta, for
>> fresh egg-based pasta ( as the recipe ) is not needed
>
> +1
>
> If you're not making the pasta, as well, why bother?
>
> (personally, I'd prefer cavatelli -- ideally, with chestnut flour.  but,
> a lot of work and a pound barely feeds one!)
>
>> P.S. : for the stuffing follow your personal taste
>>
>> just some ideas :
>>
>> fresh cheese ( ricotta ) and/or bechamel and
>> 1) spinach
>> 2) mushrooms
>> 3) minced meat ( or ragu' )
>> 4) 1+3 ;-)
>
> Spinach and VERY small pieces of potato (like in
> scacciata)
>
>> with some effort the recipes can even be done "vegan"
>
> I think some would object to the egg.

use of egg in pasta is not mandatory at all
dry pasta usually don't use eggs,
you can find dry lasagna pasta made without eggs
southern italy fresh pasta ( cavatelli, orecchiete, ... ) don't use eggs

>
> Q:  what is a "packet" of vanilla?  I want to make some
> biscotti al latte and each Rx refers to vanilla in that
> quantity (here, we would measure volumetrically)

I think something like one half/one third of teaspoon
I think they refer to synthetic vannila flavour powder usually available
in small packet

adjust the quantity according your taste

>
>

On 1/4/2023 9:56 AM, mmm wrote:
>>> with some effort the recipes can even be done "vegan"
>>
>> I think some would object to the egg.
>
> use of egg in pasta is not mandatory at all

Of course! My comment applied to those dishes that *do*.
The "non-meat-eaters/animal-lovers" have a complex vocabulary
for whether or not it's allowed to eat XXX but not YYY. I
recall eggs being one of their distinctions.

> dry pasta usually don't use eggs,
> you can find dry lasagna pasta made without eggs
> southern italy fresh pasta ( cavatelli, orecchiete, ... ) don't use eggs

I use egg in my cavatelli dough. If I don't want to go to the trouble,
I buy "dry pasta". (and, for things like fusilli col buco, there's
no way in hell I can make the noodles! Mmmm... I think that's what
I'll have for lunch!!)

>> Q:  what is a "packet" of vanilla?  I want to make some
>> biscotti al latte and each Rx refers to vanilla in that
>> quantity (here, we would measure volumetrically)
>
> I think something like one half/one third of teaspoon
> I think they refer to synthetic vannila flavour powder usually available in
> small packet

*Dry*???! Hmmm... that will be a bit of a challenge to translate
to an equivalent amount of extract.

> adjust the quantity according your taste

Unlike the cantucci (which I make in small quantities -- ~20 pieces)
which require a relatively modest amount of material, I'm used to
LARGE biscotti al latte -- like 3 or 4 to a pound. So, missing the
mark on the Rx means a lot of disappointing product that has to be
consumed (or discarded).

There's a shop, locally, that makes them. But, very small
(smaller than even cantuccini). Hardly satisfying. And, the
baker is heavy on the vanilla so an overall disappointment.

Of course, no one shares *real* Rx's so I'll have to start
blind. None of the Rx's that I've found online seem to have
the right set of ingredients (based on my memory of the product;
the bakery that I used to buy them from has now "traded hands"
and their product has changed).

So, I'd like to start from a place *close* to my goal instead
of having to run through several iterations (and many pounds
of product) to get to a point where I am at least "on the right
track"

[It's taken me almost 30 years -- of a-batch-every-two-weeks -- to
get my cantucci Rx "perfect", regardless of weather conditions, etc.
But, *I* don't eat those! But WILL eat the biscotti al latte! And,
I don't have the patience to wait that long to get them right... :<]

Thanks. I'll use your approximation and some "flavor memory"
to see if I can get to the right ballpark wrt the vanilla component.