Recipe: Creamy Canneloni with Chicken and Almonds

Creamy Cannelloni With Chicken & Almonds
Yield: 6 Servings
From: "Recipes Only" Cookbook of the Canadian Home Makers magazine.

22 precooked dried cannelloni shells (see Note)
2 chopped tomatoes
2 tb freshly grated parmesan cheese

Sauce:
3 tb butter
1 chopped onion
3 tb flour
1 1/2 c chicken stock
1 c light cream
1 salt and pepper to taste
3/4 c grated Swiss cheese

Filling:
1 1/2 c diced cooked chicken
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3/4 c ricotta cheese
1/3 c toasted slivered almonds
1/4 c freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

Sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan. Saute onion until tender. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add stock, cream, salt and pepper. Cook until boiling and thickened, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the Swiss cheese. Cover with waxed paper and set aside.

Filling: Combine chicken, spinach, Ricotta, almonds, Parmesan, egg and nutmeg. Blend all ingredients together.

Assembly: Place filling in the pre-cooked shells. Pour a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange the stuffed cannelloni in a single layer over the sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped tomatoes, and pour the sauce over the cannelloni. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover with Aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until pasta is soft and the top bubbles.

Note: The kind of pasta used in this dish is dried, but is usually called "oven ready". It is believed that it is coated in egg whites to enable it to cook right in the oven when well-covered in sauce. If you make the dish ahead and refrigerate, the cooking time will be cut down because the pasta will soften in the refrigeration.