Cannelloni au Brocciu — Brocciu-Stuffed Baked Pasta

Corsica — island-wide; family preparation for Sunday meals and celebrations.

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.

• Cannelloni ricotta e spinaci (Italy — direct cognate, bechamel vs tomato distinction)
• Manicotti (Italian-American — similar baked stuffed pasta format)

Brocciu-nepita filling; light Corsican tomato; brocciu passu browned crust; communal terracotta service.