Cannelloni
This is ideal as an entree (one or two cannelloni per person) or as a main - depending on the size of your appetite! Dried cannelloni are a little fiddly to use, so we've used fresh lasagne pasta sheets. They can be cut to size and they also cook through in a matter of minutes.
Ingredients
Method
- 2 large fresh lasagne sheets, cut into 6 even pieces
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- olive oil
- 250g Prime Beef Mince
- 250g ricotta or cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 420g can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp dried lemon thyme
- handful fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
Sauce
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- Fry onions in a good splash of olive oil until soft and transparent. Add the mince and brown well, ensuring that you break up any large pieces. Add the garlic, tinned tomatoes and herbs and stir well. Once it’s a lovely rich colour remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- Mix the ricotta with the first measure of parmesan and 1/2 of the fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper, then combine with the cooled mince mixture. Oil a baking dish and then take a few spoonfuls of the mixture and dot it through the baking dish.
- Take a sheet of the pasta and dot spoonfuls of the mixture along one edge, and then roll over to form a loose tube shape. Place the tube in the baking dish and repeat until all the pasta sheets are used and the baking dish is full.
- If you have left over mixture, kept it to one side and warm and use to line your plates when serving up as shown or if you'd rather not, simply spoon over the cannelloni in the baking dish. Brush the cannelloni with olive oil and then bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10 to 15 minutes until golden.
- While baking the cannelloni whip up a light cheese sauce. In a pan melt the butter, and then stir in the flour to make a paste. Add the milk and stir with a whisk until well combined. Add the cheese and stir over a gentle heat until the sauce is thickened and smooth. If you'd like to thin the sauce a little, simply add a tad more milk and stir until combined.
- Serve the cannelloni on individual plates, drizzle with the cheese sauce and garnish with fresh basil leaves.