Corsican

Cannelloni au Brocciu — Brocciu-Stuffed Baked Pasta

Cannelloni au brocciu is the baked pasta form of Corsican cuisine — large tube pasta (or rolled fresh pasta sheets) filled with the same brocciu-nepita mixture as the ravioli, then arranged in a terracotta baking dish, covered with a light tomato sauce (or the cooking juices of a stufatu braise), and baked until the pasta edges crisp and the filling has set. The sauce is deliberately light — Corsican tomato (the island's summer tomatoes are small, sweet, and deeply flavoured from the granite soil and Mediterranean sun) crushed with garlic and maquis herbs — because the brocciu filling must remain the primary flavour. Grated brocciu passu scattered over the top melts and browns during baking. The dish is served directly from the terracotta baking dish — the vessel is carried to the table and portions served with a spoon, not a spatula, which reflects the Corsican preference for communal, table-centred service over plated presentation.

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ServesFour portions

Sourced1of 8 in BC

Cook

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The Market List

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cannelloni tubes (or fresh pasta sheets, rolled and cut for tubes)

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

For the filling

500 g

brocciu

fresh

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

1 small bunch

nepita (Corsican mint, Calamintha nepeta)

leaves picked and finely chopped

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

For the sauce

600 g

Corsican summer tomatoes (or small, sweet Mediterranean variety)

crushed

Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →

2 cloves

garlic

finely chopped

Your own market

1 tsp

maquis herbs (mixture of thyme, rosemary, and wild savory)

dried or fresh

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

30 ml

olive oil

Your own market

For the topping

80 g

brocciu passu (aged brocciu)

finely grated

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

The Method

Combine the fresh brocciu with the chopped nepita in a bowl. Mix until the herb is evenly distributed throughout the cheese. The filling should be cohesive and hold its shape when pressed — not wet or slack.

From the canon — Nepita — Calamintha nepeta subsp. Nepita — Corsican Calamint: The Island's Defining Herb →

Fill each cannelloni tube with the brocciu-nepita mixture. Do not overfill: the filling expands during baking and overfilled tubes will burst. Each tube should be approximately two-thirds full. Arrange the filled tubes in a single layer in a terracotta baking dish. Refrigerate for thirty minutes — the cold filling contracts slightly and holds its shape during the oven phase.

Warm the olive oil in a pan over moderate heat. Add the garlic and sweat briefly until softened but not coloured. Add the crushed tomatoes and maquis herbs. Cook until the sauce is light and barely reduced — it must remain fluid enough to coat and baste the pasta without submerging the tubes. This is where the dish lives or dies: a heavy or abundant sauce buries the brocciu character; the tomato is a frame, not a filling.

Remove the filled cannelloni from the refrigerator. Spoon the light tomato sauce over and around the tubes, ensuring the pasta surfaces are moistened but the tops of the tubes remain partially exposed. Scatter the finely grated brocciu passu evenly across the surface.

From the canon — Brocciu passu is the aged form of brocciu — the same whey curd, salted and set aside for a minimum 21 days, during which a dry rind forms and the interior fi… Brocciu Passu — Aged Brocciu and Rind Development →

Bake in an oven preheated to 190 °C until the brocciu passu crust is golden-brown, the tomato sauce has reduced and is clinging to the pasta, and the edges of the tubes are slightly crisped. The filling must be fully set and warmed through. A pale, uncoloured top indicates under-baking or excessive sauce on the surface.

Carry the terracotta baking dish directly to the table. Portions are served with a spoon. The brocciu flavour must be dominant; the tomato and maquis herbs provide a light frame. If the sauce registers as the primary flavour, the sauce-to-filling ratio was wrong.

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — Fresh brocciu made from Corsican ewe's milk whey, purchased the day of preparation; tomatoes grown on granite Corsican soil, harvested at peak summer; nepita gathered from the maquis; aged brocciu passu from the same producer as the fresh.

Estate — Brocciu AOC certified (mainland Corsican production); good-quality small Mediterranean tomatoes such as Datterino or San Marzano at summer ripeness; dried nepita of known Corsican origin; brocciu passu sourced from a Corsican affineur.

Market — Fresh ricotta of good quality substituted for brocciu where the latter is unavailable; ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes crushed for the sauce; Calamintha nepeta sourced as fresh herb or quality dried; Pecorino Romano finely grated in place of brocciu passu.

House — Dried cannelloni tubes from a reliable pasta producer; canned whole plum tomatoes (drained) for the sauce; dried Corsican or Provençal herb mixture; any well-aged, moderately saline sheep's milk cheese finely grated for the crust.

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. Golden-brown brocciu passu crust across the surface; tomato sauce reduced and clinging to the pasta; edges of the tubes slightly crisped.

◇Taste. Brocciu dominant throughout; light tomato-herb frame perceptible but secondary; saline, browned brocciu passu crust on the finish.

◇Where it lives or dies. The tomato sauce must remain deliberately light and barely reduced — enough to baste the pasta without submerging it — because a heavy sauce obliterates the brocciu character that is the sole purpose of the dish.

Pillar V

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