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1
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.
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2
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.
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3
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.
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4
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.
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5
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.
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6
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.