Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Nick and Tori's "I have to use every dish in the kitchen" Cannelloni

Now that brother and sister have made this...I thought I would update with a photo of all the dishes it entails!
...... I cook the majority of the time, my husband claims I have taken away his edge when it comes to the kitchen. In fact, this past weekend, I headed home to Western New York to take the little guy skiing and my husband stayed home to make his brother a birthday dinner. The dinner from what I hear was fabulous, but the molten hot piece of sausage in his eye was not. Apparently, after using every dish in the kitchen, he was left was with the last clean item... the blender. He thought about using the food processor, but somehow he thought that equated to more dishes. The result... an air pocket and some seriously hot flying food.

Nick's Cannelloni with two sauces, lots of ingredients and tons of dishes

Tomato sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes, not drained, coarsely chopped (4 cups)
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8-ounce package dried cannelloni (14 pasta tubes)
or homemade crepes -- you know if you want to create more dishes
Filling (recipe follows)
Bechamel Sauce (recipe follows)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
3 tablespoons butter

Heat olive oil in a non-reactive 3-quart saucepan over high heat until a light glaze forms over oil, about 2 minutes. Add onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until onions are clear, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, sugar, salt and a few grindings of pepper, stirring well. Cover pan partially, reduce heat and simmer 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If finishing the dish now, make filling and bechamel sauce. Also boil pasta to al dente stage, if using canneloni stirring often; drain pasta. Once filling and sauces are done and pasta is cooked and drained, finish dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour a film of tomato sauce in bottom of ungreased 14-by-10-inch baking dish. Stuff the cooked pasta tubes with filling and place side by side in baking dish. Pour bechamel sauce over pasta and spoon rest of tomato sauce on top. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and dot with butter. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, until parmesan melts and sauce is bubbling. Slide dish under a hot broiler for about 30 seconds to brown top. Serve immediately.

Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, chopped again 1 tablespoon butter
1 pound ground round
1/2 mild pound ground pork sausage
1/3 cup grated parmesan
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Heat the olive oil in a large non-reactive skillet over moderate heat for 1 minute.
Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes until onions are soft but not browned. Add spinach and cook until moisture has boiled away and spinach sticks lightly to pan, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet and lightly brown ground round and sausage, about 7 minutes, stirring constantly to break meat into small bits. With slotted spoon, transfer meat mixture to bowl with spinach. Stir in parmesan, cream, salt and pepper to taste and then mix in eggs. Sauce can be "pureed" using food processor if desired.

Bechamel sauce
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
In a heavy 1-quart saucepan, melt butter over moderate heat. Remove pan from heat and whisk in flour. Add milk and cream, whisking constantly until flour is blended in. Return pan to heat and cook, whisking constantly, until sauce reaches a boil and is smooth. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce coats wires of whisk, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm going to attempt this one on Sunday

JenOP said...

Man, you Ellises are far more ambitious then I!