Truth be told, we love cannelloni. Our acquaintance with this dish is long and rather special. It was the first dish Tim cooked for me, while we were dating. I had never had cannelloni before, and it was his first time making it. He was, of course, looking for something vegetarian, egg less and impressive, I suppose.
He had just returned from a work trip, he was rather tired and looked sleepy, but he still cooked for us. I reached our now home on a Friday evening to find him stuffing some long tubes with an alien looking mixture of cheese and greens. I was just so glad and flattered he was cooking for me after such a long and busy trip, I would have eaten toast!
Don’t listen to what Tim says about his first go at making it. I might have mastered the art of making types of cannelloni and may do various versions of it – still it still remains the best cannelloni I ever had.
Moving on, fast forward to our regular cannelloni dinners, we love our regular filling of ricotta and spinach. However, if you are like me, you probably would want to try this different version. I developed this recipe taking inspiration from the meat version a little, however, this one is so much healthier! The mushrooms give it a nutrition packed earthiness that is cocooned in the beautiful and silky white sauce. The dish is dairy heavy, but it can be made vegan without too much trouble. It is cheesy but it is much lighter than the ricotta version – even if you were to use light ricotta. (Which is not really my way anyway – it I am using dairy, I am using full cream.)
Now let me assure you, that this white sauce given in this recipe, is divine! Use it with any other dishes, it will be great. I do not do bland, and this is anything but!
I always like to make a good salad on the side, to make it a well-rounded, vegetable heavy meal. We had this salad this time and it was absolutely brilliant!
So without much ado, let us get started! This one is definitely a weekend dish, but it does freeze well. Also great for lunches. We had it with this salad, which was a great accompaniment and gave more bite and flavor to each mouthful.
Mushroom and Vegetable loaded Cannelloni in Fragrant White sauce
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 5 Giant field mushrooms or 10 medium sized ones chopped in small cubes
- 1 medium brown onion diced
- ½ cup kale finely chopped
- 2 clove garlic minced
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 zucchini grated and squeezed to get all the water out
- 200 grams ricotta cheese
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp. Italian herbs mix
- 1 tbsp. olive oil for frying
- Salt and paper to taste
White sauce
- 1 tbsp. salted butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ small brown onion finely diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp dried italian herbs
- 3 cups of full cream milk
- Water – as needed
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
- Fresh parsley finely chopped
- Salt and paper to taste
Cannelloni
- 1 pack dried cannelloni tubes
- 1 – 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- More fresh parsley for garnish
- Panko or normal bread crumbs to top
Instructions
Method For the filling
- 1. Chop all your vegetables, heat the oil in a pan and sweat the onion and garlic. Then add the mushrooms to soften. Add salt in layers as mushrooms are little sponges! Add a little salt when you first add the mushrooms, and then repeat a bit later.2. Once all mushrooms are soft and cooking, add the finely chopped kale to add more nutrients. Once wilted, follow with grated carrot and squeezed zucchini. Add the second layer of salt.3. Add the chilli, turmeric and black pepper. Let the moisture evaporate if there be any, then add the Italian herbs and stir. Take off of the heat once done. Keep aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, add the ricotta cheese and mix well.
For the white sauce
- 1. In a heavy bottomed pan, add the butter along with the olive oil to prevent the butter burning. 2. As it melts and starts to bubble, add onion and garlic, also the red chili flakes as the onions start to turn golden. 3. Add the whole-wheat flour. (I use a mixed flour that is fortified with oats, lentils and so forth. Again, more nutritional value.) 4. Stir with a whisk to prevent lumps. Once the flour is all coated in the oils and is smelling roasted, add full cream milk in a stream. Continue to stir it in. Once thick, add some more until all used. Feel free to add more water to get the desired consistency of the sauce. 5. Add salt and paper and dried herbs. 6. Add the cheese, stir and melt. Switch the heat off.
Cannelloni
- 1. Prepare an oven proof baking dish, layer the bottom with a thin coat of the white sauce to prevent anything sticking.2. Stuff the cannelloni tubes with the cooled stuffing and layer in a row. Top with the remaining sauce and top with the cheese and bread crumbs.3. Bake on 200 c for half an hour or until soft and golden on top.
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