To make stuffed cannelloni, you will need:

• 1 pack of 250 g cannelloni;
• 500 g minced meat (pork + beef);
• 200 g of ripe fleshy tomatoes;
• 100 g celery stalk;
• 200 g of onion;
• 200 g carrots;
• 150 g parmesan;
• a few sprigs of basil;
• a little olive oil for frying;
• 50 g butter;
• 2 tbsp flour;
• 300 ml of milk;
• 200 ml of heavy cream;
• nutmeg or Italian spices for bechamel sauce.

Recipe for cannelloni with minced meat in the oven

Cannelloni with minced meat is a delicious dish originally from Italy, which is large pasta tubes stuffed with meat filling. You can cook an original snack in cream, with mushrooms, spinach, under different sauces. The recipe is quite simple, suitable for the oven and is accessible even to beginners in culinary delights.

For many, the first acquaintance with cannelloni takes place in sunny Italy or in an Italian restaurant. The dish looks like a casserole or pasta, it is full of satiety. The taste of pasta is given by minced meat stuffing mixed with a variety of products. Experienced chefs and housewives masterfully experiment with additives, turning a simple Italian dish into a real culinary masterpiece.

Cannelloni (cannelloni) - large pasta in the form of tubes at least 10 cm long, up to 3 cm in diameter. The Italians also call them manicotti, which means "sleeves" in Russian. Sometimes on sale you can find sheets of pasta that require additional folding during home cooking.

As a filling, use ground beef or chicken, fresh mushrooms, cheese, spinach, tomatoes, any greens.

Cannelloni prepared for baking are poured with homemade sauce, cooked in different ways: in the oven, in a frying pan, in the kitchen "assistant" of the housewives -. In the photo below you can see what the finished Italian dish looks like after baking.

The most delicious cannelloni recipes with minced meat

The original Italian dish with the beautiful name "cannelloni" is now cooked in all countries of the world. Many culinary specialists have appreciated the delicate taste of the meat filling, shaded by the neutral taste of pasta tubes. The basis for stuffing is easy to get in any supermarket, but Italian housewives first make pasta, and then stuffing to their liking. To choose a snack option that suits your composition, just study the step-by-step recipes below.

The classic recipe for cannelloni with minced meat in Italian involves the use of homemade pasta, not store-bought pasta. Meat is also not suitable for everything - beef, turkey, chicken fillet are allowed for grinding into minced meat. Only in this way will the dish turn out like the Italians - tasty, appetizing.

You will need:

• dough tubes - 300 g;
• meat broth - 300 ml;
• ground beef - 0.5 kg;
• parmesan cheese - 120 g;
• sour cream - 450 ml;
• white onion - one;
• carrots - one;
• fragrant herbs;
• salt and seasonings;
• vegetable oil.

How to do?

1. Chop vegetables, fry.
2. Add minced meat, salt, spices to the fry, fry until half cooked (about 8 minutes).
3. Combine meat broth with sour cream, herbs, season.
4. Fill the tubes with the filling using a spoon or a pastry bag if you have one at home.
5. Lubricate the form, put the blanks, pour thick sour cream sauce.
6. Bake at 200 degrees in the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Take out a baking sheet, grate finely parmesan, bake for 8-10 minutes.

When filling pasta, do not tamp the filling with your fingers - tightly stuffed tubes will simply burst during baking.

With bechamel sauce

The recipe for pasta tubes with bechamel sauce is similar to cooking lasagna. Pasta is stuffed with a stuffing called bolognese, baked with parmesan. Italians first make a Mediterranean soffritto - a roast of carrots, onions and celery, and then a juicy bolognese for stuffing.

Need:

• bulk tubes - 250 g;
• finely chopped minced veal - 0.5 kg;
• shoots of stem celery - 100 g;
• one carrot;
• two tomatoes;
• red wine (semi-dry) - 50 ml;
• one large onion;
• parmesan - 120 g;
• ground hot pepper;
• salt;
• vegetable oil;
• Italian herbs for flavor.

Additional Sauce Ingredients:

• flour - 50 g;
• butter 72% - 100 g;
• boiled and cooled milk to a warm state - 700 ml;
• muscat powder.

How to do?

1. First prepare the bolognese for filling the tubes. Chop vegetables, fry in oil. Here - minced meat, salt, spices, fry again. Pour in wine, add Italian herbs. Simmer covered for 40-45 minutes.
2. The second stage is the preparation of bechamel. Melt butter in a saucepan, mix with flour. While stirring, pour in all the milk, preheat it, salt it, pour in a pinch of nutmeg. When the mixture thickens over low heat, the béchamel sauce is ready.
3. Fill pasta with chilled bolognese.
4. Pour a third of the sauce into a baking sheet with sides, lay out the stuffed blanks.
5. Pour the rest of the sauce, turn on the oven, heat to 200 degrees, bake under foil for half an hour.
6. Sprinkle with grated cheese, bake until crusty.

Prepare cannelloni in cream with minced chicken or turkey meat, which only adds usefulness and piquancy to the appetizer. Nutmeg powder is an optional ingredient, it can be easily replaced with any spices or fresh chopped herbs.

Need:

• chicken fillet - 0.5 kg;
• fat cream 20% - 0.5 l;
• bulb - one;
• pasta from store packaging - 200 g;
• nutmeg;
• seasonings;
• salt.

How to do?

1. Skip the fillet through a meat grinder or grind.
2. Mix minced meat with onions, salt, season with spices.
3. Fill the tubes without tamping.
4. Put the pasta on a baking sheet with sides, pour lightly whipped cream with salted cream, sprinkle with nutmeg powder.
5. Bake for half an hour, setting 180 degrees on the panel.

Under tomato sauce

Spicy cannelloni with minced meat in tomato sauce will appeal to lovers of savory dishes. The meat filling will set off the taste of tomatoes and seasonings, and the ground beef or chicken will not create a feeling of heaviness on the stomach. The aroma will be given by spicy herbs from the garden.

Need:

• dough tubes - 10 pieces;
• minced meat - 350 g;
• olive oil - 3 tablespoons;
• clove of garlic;
• onion - two;
• red wine - 60 ml;
• tomatoes - three;
• tomato paste - 4 tablespoons;
• water - a glass;
• Bay leaf;
• any greens;
• salt;
• seasonings.

How to do it right?

1. Mix minced meat with one chopped onion, salt, spices.
2. Remove the peel from the tomatoes, grate them. Simmer in oil for 5 minutes.
3. Add chopped onion, garlic, chopped herbs, tomato paste to the pan, salt and pepper. Pour in water.
4. Bring to a boil, add wine, spices, boil for five minutes.
5. Grease a baking sheet with oil, spread the pasta, stuffing them with minced meat.
6. Pour in tomato sauce, bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

To prevent the bottom and top from burning, you can pour breadcrumbs or semolina on the bottom of the mold, and cover the mold in the oven with foil.

Many people will like large pasta stuffed with meat and mushrooms. It is allowed to take any gifts of the forest - oil dishes, champignons, white or boletus. Moreover, they can be both fresh and frozen or pickled.

Need:

• minced turkey - 450 g;
• cheese - 120 g;
• tubules - 250 g;
• bulbs - two;
• fresh white mushrooms - 300 g;
• vegetable oil;
• seasonings, salt;
• ready-made bechamel sauce (see recipe above) - 0.8 l.

How to do?

1. Mix minced turkey with onion, chopping only one onion with a knife.
2. Mushrooms cut (frozen - thaw).
3. Fry the second onion, chopped into cubes, add salted mushrooms to the pan, simmer over low heat. Stir in the minced meat prepared earlier. Fry for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Fill the tubes with stuffing, put in a tall baking sheet, after pouring half the sauce.
5. Pour over the bechamel sauce to hide the blanks. Bake at 180 degrees.
6. After half an hour, sprinkle with grated cheese, bake a little.

With minced chicken

One of the quickest recipes for baking is cannelloni with minced chicken, tomatoes and garlic. Macaroni must be boiled before dressing until half cooked. Sour cream with spices will add a piquant note to the appetizer, and a garlic clove will add flavor.

Need:

• minced chicken - 0.6 kg;
• hard cheese of any kind - 240 g;
• overripe tomatoes - three;
• egg - one (small - two);
• sour cream - a glass;
• bulb - one;
• garlic - one clove;
• cannelloni - packaging;
• to taste - salt, pepper.

How to do?

1. Mix minced meat with ground onion, garlic, pepper, salt, egg.
2. Cannelloni boil, cool.
3. Stuff pasta with meat mixture.
4. Spread tomato mugs on top, pour sour cream, sprinkle with grated cheese.
5. Bake at 170 degrees for 30 minutes.

With spinach and cheese

It is difficult to call such stuffed pasta dietary: the recipe contains cream, cheese and nuts. But the taste of pasta will be exquisite. Spinach will add sourness to the appetizer, and seasonings will add the necessary sharpness.

Need:

• spinach - 0.5 kg;
• homemade pasta wrapped in tubes - 8 pieces;
• parmesan, mozzarella and Adyghe cheese - 200 g of each variety;
• 10% cream - a third of a glass;
• butter - 70 g;
• cow's milk - 0.5 liters;
• a handful of pine nuts;
• two to three tablespoons of flour;
• salt, herbs, spices.

How to do?

1. Prepare creamy bechamel sauce.
2. Add cream to it, boil, cook until thickened. Remove from heat, close the lid.
3. Crumble the cheese with your hands.
4. Spinach chop or chop with a knife.
5. Fry the spinach in hot butter, cool slightly.
6. Mix with cheese, leave for baking, herbs, salt, pour in a little sauce.
7. Stuff dry pasta tubes.
8. Pour a little sauce on a baking sheet, spread the blanks without gaps. Pour in the rest of the sauce.
9. Bake at 170 degrees for 15 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, a handful of pine nuts, bake until a crust appears.

Cannelloni in a slow cooker

Cooking a hearty meal in a kitchen assistant - a slow cooker - is practically no different from baking in an oven. The only advantage is that cooking is faster, and the pasta remains juicy, as it is under the lid of the appliance.

Need:

• any minced meat - 0.4 kg;
• pasta pipes - 200 g;
• fat cream - a whole multi-glass;
• medium bulb - one;
• water - a whole multi-glass;
• carrots - half a horse crop;
• a couple of cloves of garlic;
• salt;
• celery shoots - 100 g;
• olive oil - 2 tablespoons;
• fragrant herbs.

How to do?

1. Cook peeled and chopped vegetables in the “Frying” program for 5 minutes.
2. Pour the minced meat into the multi-bowl, fry for another 10 minutes with the lid open.
3. Stuff the cannelloni, mix the cream and water, salt and pepper, pour the mixture over the blanks.
4. Turn on the "Extinguishing" mode for 30 minutes.

To make cannelloni with minced meat in Italian delicious, you need to strictly follow the simple recommendations of experienced chefs.

The advice is this.

1. Minced meat should be taken homogeneous, without streaks and large pieces of meat, so it will fry evenly.
2. To reduce the baking time, it is better to boil the tubules in lightly salted water until half cooked.
3. The sauce must be completely filled with stuffed pasta, otherwise they will be overdried, tough.
4. To give the minced meat an additional taste, you can add adjika, sweet peppers, garlic, potatoes, processed cheese or ham to the recipe.

Conclusion

Choosing the right recipe for cannelloni with minced meat, you need to take into account your own preferences, then the dish will turn out delicious, will delight all family members. Italian herbs, spices, dill, parsley, any spices available at home will add flavor to the appetizer.

Peel the onion, chop finely. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, fry the onion over medium heat until transparent, stirring occasionally.

Add minced meat to the pan (I used minced chicken) and continue frying, breaking up minced meat lumps, until the color of the meat changes.

Wash the tomatoes, grate and add to the pan to the minced meat, salt, pepper (you can season with spices to taste). Add minced garlic. Stir, fry until minced meat is ready. The filling for the cannelloni is ready, remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Boil the cannelloni tubes for 2 minutes, dropping several pieces into boiling water. Transfer the cannelloni to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Some manufacturers indicate on the packaging that cannelloni should not be boiled before baking. But if they are pre-boiled for a few minutes, the dish will cook faster and be more juicy.

Fill the cannelloni tubes with prepared minced meat. It is convenient to do this with a teaspoon, placing the tube vertically.

Grease a baking dish with vegetable oil. Put the filled tubes into the form. Top the cannelloni with Bechamel sauce.

To prepare the sauce, fry flour in butter, add milk and cook over low heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put the cannelloni dish in the oven heated to 180 degrees and bake for 35 minutes. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, sprinkle the dish with grated cheese.

Do you love Italian cuisine or just want to try a new original dish? Then give preference to the traditional appetizer that came to us straight from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, called cannelloni with minced meat!

Cannelloni are large pasta tubes that can be stuffed with anything. Many housewives are afraid of them, but in fact, cooking cannelloni with minced meat is no more difficult than cooking regular pasta. Try to take tubules that do not require pre-cooking.

What you need:

• cannelloni - 250 g;
• minced meat - 0.5 kg;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
• hard cheese - 150 g;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• olive oil;
• greens;
• spices.

Finely chop the onion and a couple of cloves of garlic, then lightly pass them in a pan with a little olive oil. We make a cross-shaped cut on top of the tomatoes and pour boiling water over them. This is necessary so that the skin can be easily removed from them. Cut them into small cubes, mix with minced meat and spices, and then lightly fry in a pan.

When the filling is ready, fill the tubes tightly with it. The stuffing must be cold. Pack them into a baking dish. There must be a small space between the cannelloni, otherwise they will stick together. We send them for half an hour in the oven and 10 minutes before they are ready, sprinkle with grated cheese on top.

Sauce in the oven

Cannelloni with minced meat with bechamel sauce will definitely be even tastier than those cooked according to the classic recipe.

What you need:

• cannelloni - 250 g;
• minced meat - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 4 pcs.;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• Parmesan cheese - 150 g;
• drain. oil - 50 g;
• milk - 1 l;
• flour - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• rast. oil;
• spices.

Grind the onion with garlic, peel the tomatoes. Fry the minced meat in a pan with 3 tablespoons of water until it is completely evaporated and the meat does not change its color. This is necessary so that it does not stick together into lumps. The filling for cannelloni should be slightly crumbly. We also simmer vegetables in a pan with a little oil for about 10 minutes.

We connect both parts of the filling, mixing them well. At the same time, you need to start preparing the bechamel sauce. To do this, melt the butter, pour flour into it and put the bowl on medium heat. We begin to slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low. Stir until the sauce becomes creamy in consistency. When it is ready, cover the dish with it with a lid.

The filling should have cooled down by that time and we fill our tubes with it. We press them into a baking dish and pour béchamel sauce on top. We send for half an hour in the oven at a temperature of 200, 10 minutes before complete cooking, sprinkle the cannelloni with grated cheese.

With minced chicken

Cannelloni with minced chicken is another option for preparing an Italian traditional dish for those who do not really like pork or beef. So the tubes will acquire a more delicate taste.

What you need:

• cannelloni - 250 g;
• minced chicken - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 5 pcs.;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• Parmesan cheese - 150 g;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• rast. oil;
• Bechamel sauce;
• spices.

Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in a pan. Tomatoes are peeled and cut into small pieces. Minced meat is added to the frying and, a little later, tomatoes. Add salt, spices and cook the filling for about 15 minutes. Bechamel sauce is next in line. You can find out how to cook it in the previous recipe. We rub on a coarse grater "Parmesan".

When the minced meat with tomatoes is ready, we fill them with cannelloni. However, the filling should be in moderation, otherwise the tubules may burst during baking. Divide the bechamel sauce into two equal parts. Pour the first into the mold, after which we put the cannelloni there. Pour the remaining half on top. We send the tubes to the oven for half an hour at a temperature of 180. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, sprinkle the dish on top with cheese.

In a slow cooker

You don't have an oven, but you really want to try cannelloni with minced meat? Do not despair! After all, if you have a slow cooker, consider yourself very lucky.

What you need:

• cannelloni - 10 pcs.;
• minced meat - 300 g;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• hard cheese - 50 g;
• carrots - 2 pcs.;
• volume. pasta - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• rast. oil;
• salt;
• spices.

Finely chop the onion and carrots, then lightly fry them together with minced meat. You can leave the filling raw and immediately fill it with cannelloni, but then the cooking time for the tubes will increase significantly. Don't forget to salt and add spices.

Cool the minced meat and fill it with cannelloni. It will be most convenient to do this manually without the help of foreign objects. We lay the tubes on the bottom of the bowl, greased with oil. Ketchup is also mixed there with a small amount of water and this “broth” is poured on top of the workpiece. At the end, sprinkle them with grated cheese and cook on the “Stew” program for half an hour. If the dish seems not ready enough for you, you can add another 10-15 minutes.

With minced meat and mushrooms

Cannelloni with minced meat and mushrooms is another delicious version of this unusual dish.

What you need:

• minced meat - 300 g;
• tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
• champignons - 200 g;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• hard cheese - 150 g;
• rast. oil - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• sauce ingredients;
• spices;
• salt.

Finely chop the onion and mushrooms. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel them and also cut them into small pieces. Fry onions, mushrooms, minced meat and tomatoes in a pan until fully cooked. Salt and season. Do not forget to mix thoroughly so that the filling is fried evenly.

Fry finely chopped garlic, one onion and minced meat in a pan until it becomes a slightly brown hue. We remove the filling to cool, and then put chopped greens, an egg and spices there. Mix thoroughly until a homogeneous mass.

Let's start preparing the tomato sauce for the cannelloni. Chop the second onion. Peel the tomatoes, cut into slices and turn them into a puree with an immersion blender. We simmer it all in a pan, adding tomato paste and spices. Stir the sauce constantly without bringing it to a boil. Its preparation time should take you 3-5 minutes.

The filling should have cooled down by that time and we fill the tubes with it. We divide the resulting sauce into two equal parts: pour the first into a baking dish, and pour the remaining cannelloni on top. Sprinkle with grated cheese and put in the oven for 40 minutes.

A special pasta designed for stuffing is large cannelloni tubes. Stuffed cannelloni are easy to prepare and the tubes are convenient for stuffing. Such a dish can be prepared even for breakfast and stuffed with almost any minced meat. Most types of this pasta do not even require pre-boiling.

As experts say, anything can be stuffed if there is a hole in it. There is some truth in this, of course. For example, stuffed cabbage, as some of my foreign friends call it. And also incredibly tasty, which we always cook the way they do it in the Balkans.

In Italy, where the abundance of types of pasta is as great as the number of options for its preparation, a special pasta is made for stuffing. Usually these are either huge "shells" - Conchiglie, or rectangular baking sheets. But more often these are large tubes - cannelloni (Cannelloni). Stuffed cannelloni is a simple, affordable and very repeatable recipe.

Usually the pasta is first boiled and then baked. But for cannelloni there is a term - al forno, literally "bake", no pre-cooking or ohne vorcochen - "without pre-cooking". Stuffed cannelloni are placed in a mold, poured with bechamel sauce, tomato and put in the oven. Sometimes they try to stuff already boiled cannelloni. But when cooked, they increase in size and do not hold their shape well.

Cannelloni - similar to the usual large pasta. It’s hard to make a mistake here, they are cylindrical in shape, about 2-3 cm in diameter and up to 10 cm long. An ideal shape for stuffing with whatever you like.

To quickly cook stuffed cannelloni, I advise you to stop at the vegetable filling, limiting yourself to seasonal vegetables. As a rule, at any time of the year in the refrigerator there are onions, carrots, garlic, herbs and tomatoes: fresh, canned or homemade tomato juice. Depending on the season, you can add zucchini or zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, petiole celery, leek, etc. to the minced meat. Let your imagination run wild, and stuffed pasta will delight you.

Ingredients (2 servings)

• Cannelloni 8-10 pcs
• Eggplant 1-2 pieces
• Tomato 4 pcs
• Onion 1 pc
• bell pepper 2 pcs
• Garlic 2-3 cloves
• Basil, parsley 2-3 branches
• Tomato sauce 1 cup
• Olive oil 3 tbsp. l.
• Salt, sugar, black pepper, nutmeg taste

Add prescription to phone

Stuffed cannelloni. Recipe

1. Cannelloni pasta, like any other pasta, is worth taking a quality, and not a mix of soft flour of unknown origin. There are high quality types of cannelloni on the market and there is always plenty to choose from. The number of cannelloni tubes is determined not so much by the volume of the vegetable filling, but by the capacity of the baking dish that is available. It is necessary that all the tubes freely fit into the mold in one layer. For example, the disposable food foil mold I chose contained 8 cannelloni.

   Cannelloni

2. Vegetables for the filling and for the sauce in which the cannelloni will be baked should be fresh and, if possible, young. For the filling, you should choose carrots, onions, garlic, parsley and basil, as well as seasonal vegetables - eggplant, peppers, tomatoes.

   Seasonal vegetables for topping

3. For the sauce, you need to prepare a glass of ready-made homemade or 2-3 large ripe tomatoes, bell peppers and garlic. The sauce is easy to prepare, and regardless of the source of the tomato.

   Vegetables for sauce

4. Peel the carrots and cut into cubes, the size of how vegetables are cut for. In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp. l. olive oil and fry the carrots on it until soft and lightly blushed. Next, add finely chopped bell pepper, and onion, diced. Fry everything together over medium heat, stirring.

   Fry carrots, onions and peppers

5. Bake the eggplant in the oven or microwave until soft. Scald one tomato with boiling water and, removing the seeds and skin, chop with a knife. The garlic clove is also peeled and chopped with a knife. Add chopped tomato pulp to the fried vegetables, salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer the vegetables over low heat for about 10 minutes. It is necessary that the carrot was completely ready.

   Add tomato pulp to vegetables

6. Cut the baked eggplant in half lengthwise and scrape out the flesh with a spoon. Chop the eggplant flesh with a knife. Remove the leaves from the parsley and basil sprigs and chop them. At the same time, add eggplant pulp, herbs and garlic to the fried vegetables.

   Add garlic, baked eggplant and herbs

7. Stir vegetables, fry for 1 minute. Next, turn off the fire and, covering the pan with a lid, let the vegetables cool for 10-15 minutes.

   Let the stuffing cool a little under the lid

8. While the filling is cooling, prepare the sauce. If you have homemade tomato sauce, it's perfect. Otherwise, peel the remaining tomatoes from seeds and skins, and grind the pulp with a blender into a puree. In a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp. l. olive oil and fry finely chopped bell pepper on it. The pepper should begin to brown, but not burn.

   Roast the bell peppers for the sauce

9. Add tomato sauce or fresh tomato puree. Add chopped garlic - 1-2 cloves, a pinch of grated nutmeg and 0.5 tsp. Sahara. Salt and pepper - to taste. Do not forget that homemade tomato sauce already contains spices, so all the spices are to your taste. Simmer the sauce covered over medium heat for 10 minutes.

   Stew pepper with tomato under the lid

10. So, everything is ready to prepare delicious cannelloni. In turn, stuff each cannelloni tube with the cooled minced vegetable. You don’t need to push especially, stuff as much as the minced meat will fit, if you don’t tamp. Arrange the stuffed cannelloni on a plate.

    Stuff cannelloni with minced vegetables

11. Pour a quarter of the prepared tomato sauce into the bottom of the baking dish, distributing it evenly. By the way, the sauce is quite hot, and if you use an aluminum mold, you can burn yourself. It is better to put the mold in advance on ceramic or other heat-resistant dishes, and put it in the oven. So it's more convenient and safer.

    Pour some of the tomato sauce into the mold

12. Place the stuffed cannelloni in a mold over the sauce. Leaving gaps or not is unimportant, the pasta will swell a little during baking and in any case will fill all the gaps. But dumping stuffed tubes in a heap is also not worth it.

    Lay the stuffed cannelloni in the saucepan

13. Carefully pour the stuffed pasta with all the tomato sauce that is. The sauce should fill all the gaps and all the pasta should be in the sauce. This is important, because the pasta must be cooked, cooked. And the lack of contact of the pasta with the liquid sauce will leave solid patches of pasta. If, as it happens, the sauce is not enough, it is quite acceptable to add a little boiling water or regular tomato juice.