Food with passion: Delicious Italian Cannelloni

It’s been years since i’ve had a good cannelloni and when i came across this recipe from clodagh Mckenna i thought to myself i have to make that.

It’s a staple ragu for the base and filling the cannelloni tubes, a home-made bechamel parmesan sauce poured on top, lashings of grated cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and pop into the oven until its golden, bubbling and delicious.

Serve with green salad, potato wedges or garlic bread.

When i made this everybody went back for seconds it’s that good!

Another recipe that you can get ahead with!

I made the ragu filling the night before, the longer it has to cook the better the flavour.

On the day i was serving it all i had to do was fill the cannelloni pasta tubes with the ragu, i also used any left overs to fill in any gaps between the pasta rolls, make the bechamel sauce, pour on top of the pasta tubes, generously scatter the cheese on top and pop into the oven to bake for 40- 45 minutes!

Ingredients: (Feeds 6 ) 750g steak mince

• 500g passata
• 2 carrots diced
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 celery stick finely diced
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano dash of worcestershire sauce
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 200ml red wine
• 2 Tablespoon of tomato puree sea salt and ground black pepper 20- 22 cannelloni pasta tubes
• Bechamel parmesan sauce: 50g flour
• 50g butter
• 100g grated parmesan cheese 700ml milk
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 bay leaf

Method

1. finely chop the onions, carrot and celery or pop them into a food processor and add to a large heavy past pan with the oil and on a medium heat cook them for 10 minutes. i use a cast iron casserole pan.
2. add the beef, oregano, and cook until there are no remnants of pink left. Then add the wine and allow to cook down for about 5 minutes then add passata, mix well and season with salt and pepper. plonk in few dollops of worcestershire sauce add the two beef stock cubes and clamp on a lid and allow to simmer for at least an hour, longer if you have the time! stir occasionally to ensure everything is mixed well together.
3. To make the bechamel sauce melt the butter over a moderate heat; add the flour and cook for two minutes whisking constantly to get rid of the taste of raw flour. with the milk in a large measuring jug, in three separate pouring’s add to the butter and flour mixture, whisking all the time to ensure the sauce has no lumps and until it is nice and thick. add the pinch of nutmeg and torn bay leave and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the parmesan cheese and once nice and thick set aside.
4. when you are ready to assemble, arrange each cannelloni tube into the dish hole side to the base of your baking dish and using a teaspoon fill with the ragu from the other end, then arrange side by side. fill in any gaps between the pasta tubes with any remaining ragu.
5. pour over the bechamel sauce so everything is covered then scatter with the grated cheese on top and place into a preheated oven 180c fan for 40 – 45 minutes until golden on top.

This dish is simply delicious, comforting and perfect for long weekends.

You should be able to source the cannelloni pasta tubes in most good supermarkets or online.

It’s a great dish to serve at the table for family gatherings and is one i will be returning to over and over again.

Delicious re-heated the next day for lunch too, if you have any leftovers but i suspect there won’t be!