I have eaten these made with crepes and I have eaten them made with pasta.
My preference is pasta, because of the toothsome bite it brings to the table.
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 8 ounces ground veal
- ¾ cups freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1¼ pounds basic pasta dough
- 1 cup basic tomato sauce
- 1 cup besciamella
Preparations
- 1. In a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan,
heat 1
tablespoon of the butter over high heat
until it foams and subsides. Add the
ground pork and veal and cook, stirring
occasionally and breaking up any lumps
of meat, until browned. Drain off the
excess fat , then add ½ cup of the
Parmigiano, the flour, and milk and bring
to just under a boil. Reduce the heat to a
simmer and cook for 10 minutes,
stirring frequently. Remove from the
heat and allow the filling to cool. Stir in
the egg and season with the nutmeg, salt,
and pepper. Set aside.
- 2. Bring 6 quarts of water
to a boil in a
large pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt. Set
up an ice bath next to the stove.
- 3. Divide the pasta dough into
4 pieces.
Roll each one through the thinnest setting
on a pasta machine and lay the sheets on a
lightly floured work surface. Cut the
pasta into 4 by
6-inch rectangles. Drop the pasta rectangles
into the boiling water, 5 or 6 at a
time, and cook until tender, about 1
minute. Transfer to the ice bath to cool
for 1 minute, then drain on kitchen towels,
laying the rectangles flat.
- 4. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- 5. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of
the meat
filling just above one long edge of each rectangle, and roll the pasta up
around
the filling to form a cylinder.
- 6. Spoon half the tomato sauce
across
the bottom of a large baking dish in an
even layer. Arrange the cannelloni seam
side down in the dish in a single layer.
Top with the remaining tomato sauce, then the besciamella. Sprinkle with
the
remaining ¼ cup Parmigiano.
- 7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes,
until the sauces and cheese are bubbling and the edges of the pasta
are crisp and
browned. Serve immediately, from the
baking dish.
Makes 4 servings
© 2005 Mario Batali from Molto Italiano
Photograph © Beatriz Da Costa
