They are tasty, they are juicy, they are a staple for every family with children... of all ages.
Yet they are a bit time consuming since they require three different sauces and they leave behind them a heap of dirty pots and pans. That's why I avoid making them so often but when I do, I make the most out of them and double-up the recipe!
For a medium size baking dish and 4 people, we need:
- 500 grams dry canelloni pasta
- 1 egg
- 200 grams grated cheese (whatever you like to use with other types of pasta - I like greek pecorino)
a) the meat sauce
- 750 grams of mince/ground beef or pork
- 500 grams thick tomato juice
- 1 diced onion
- spices, 1/4 tsp of each: ground cinnamon, ground clove, nutmeg, 1 bayleaf
- 3 tbs olive oil
- salt* - peper
b) the tomato sauce
- 500 gr tomato juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dry oregano**
- 1 tsp dry basil**
- 3 tbs olive oil
- salt* - peper
(You can cheat and save time by using 1 jar of ready-made tomato sauce, just check the salt)
c) the white sauce
- 4 tbs butter (50grams)
- 4 tbs flour (50grams)
- 1 lt warm milk
- salt, pepper, ground nutmeg.
(and surely you can cheat again and use a ready-made gratin sauce but perhaps you'll need to add some extra milk to it because it must not be very thick but almost at the same consistency as the tomato sauce)
* salt, well you can adjust this to your liking because we like our food on the salty side, so I use 2 level tsp on everything I cook.
** I use dry herbs in the winter and fresh in the summer, so double the portion if you use fresh herbs. To tell you the truth, however, I find dry oregano by far better than fresh one while the opposite goes for basil.
If you are not tired so far by just reading this, then go on cooking.
Prepare the meat sauce. Put some oil in a large frying pan and sautee the onion. Add the neat and stir for 15 minutes or until the juices are evaporated. Add the tomato juice, 1 large glass of water, the spices, salt, pepper, and let it simmer for another 20 minutes.
Meanwhile in a different saucepan prepare the tomato sauce. Just put everything in it and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Take it off the heat, and prepare the white sauce. On medium heat melt the butter in a pan, take it off the heat and add the flour, stirring continuously with a whisker. Keep stirring and add the milk. Put the pan again on heat, add salt, pepper and the nutmeg. Keep on stirring until it thickens lightly.
By now, hopefully, you have everything ready. So it's time to stuff the pasta. Don't forget to turn on the oven at 180 C. Slightly butter a baking dish. (Mine is big enough to hold all the canelloni from the packet in one layer). In a bowl, beat the egg, add half the cheese and 3 tbs of the white sauce. Pour this mixture over the meat sauce and mix it well. Use a teaspoon to fill each canelloni and put it in the baking dish, forming rows. Pour over firstly the white sauce and on top the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the other half of the cheese and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until it becomes golden brown on top, as you can see in my picture. Let it stand for 15 minutes and serve. Be sure to engage someone beforehand to wash the dishes, and enjoy!!!!!
