My Cannelloni
Why I Love This Recipe
I have tried literally hundreds of ways to make cannelloni as a basic ingredient. This is one that may take some time, but worth it (you can also finish most of it before it is cooked, cover and put in the fridge for the next day)
Ingredients You'll Need
For the filling:
1 lb low-fat ground meat
1 finely chopped onion
1 crushed garlic clove
1 cup beef buillon
1 ts mixed herbs
1 ss olive oil
...
1 egg
1/2 cup finely chopped boiled ham
3 ss freshly grated white bread
6 ss parmesan
12 cannelloni
salt and fresh pepper
Tomato sauce:
2 ss olive oil
1 small, chopped onion
1/2 finelly chopped carrot
1 finally chilled celery stalk
1 crushed garlic clove
1 can chopped tomatos
some fresh basel
1/2 ts dried oregano
1 ts finally chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup water
White sauce:
2 ss butter
4 ss flour
1 cups milk
nutmeg
Directions
Heat up the olive oil and add the onion, let it stir 2 minutes or so - until it is glassy and soft, add the garlic 10 seconds, then the meat. Add the mixed herbs, add salt and pepper to taste, and half of the bullion. Put the lid on and let it simmer half an hour. Stir from time to time and add more bullion when it dries up. Pour over to a bowl and let it chill.
While the meat sauce is simmering, make the tomato sauce: Heat up olive oil in a saucepan, add the vegetables and the garlic, let it simmer on medion heat ten minutes. Add the tomatos, water. Let it boil the time it takes to finish off the meat sauce. When it's done, purée it through a kitchen machine.
Boil the cannelloni according to the instructions, usually 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water, then place them on a kitchen towel to dry up.
Now it is time to finish off the meat sauce: To the bowl, add the egg, the ham, the bread and parmesan - mix well.
Add some to the puréed tomato sauce to a 8 x 12 form, fill the cannelloni with the meat sauce using a teaspoon (or following my idea below) and place them following the short side, that should give two rows quite nicely. Pour over the rest of the tomato purée and then the white sauce. Sprinkle parmesan before you put in a oven heated to app. 350, 40-50 minutes. Let it rest a few minutes before you server.
Some ideas: I take a freezer bag of the Ziplock brand, fill it half way through with the meat sauce, then I cut a small hole in the end, and squeece it into the cannelloni.
Herb mix: I fill a lunchbag of equally parts oregano, thyme, parsley and basel. Make your own mix the same way.
Pre boiled cannelloni: Yes you can use that, but be prepared for 14-18 of them then. It will also take a bit longer for the dish to finish, use a fork and check that the cannelloni is getting soft.