prep time: – cook time:
It comes in handy from time to time to cook a velvet sauce. In a nutshell all you need to do is keep boiling some vegetables, a stroke with a blender, some cheese or butter to make it creamy and it’s a done deal! Problem comes when you have to eat it, perfectly even and smooth without something to bite, I frankly find it little bit boring. Here is an idea to get some chewable stuff.
- 1 spring cabbage
- 2 potatoes
- 2/3 small courgettes
- 1 onion
- gorgonzola cheese
- extra virgin olive oil
- a chunk of butter
- salt to taste
Ingredients cannelloni
- 4 cannelloni
- 2 mozzarellas
- 80 gr bacon
- a pinch of black pepper
- 70 gr soft cheese
- 4 walnuts
- 50 gr fresh almonds
- 1 egg
Method
Pour 3 or 4 litres of water in a large pot with a thick bottom and salt it. Clean the vegetables for the sauce, cut them roughly and put them in the pot on the medium heat. When the water starts boiling turn down the burner and simmer for two hours. The amount of sauce will be much more than needed for the servings, it can be stored or frozen for the next usage. When the sauce is reduced make a cream with a blender adding a glass of olive oil. Put it back on the burner and cook on low heat and pour the gorgonzola cheese and the butter. Make it thick as you like and switch it off for a rest.
Boil the cannelloni in salted water for four minutes. Lay them on a tea towel to drain. Separately fry the sliced bacon with olive oil and dark pepper until the fat melts into grease. Promptly dice grossly the mozarelle, the fresh cheese and the walnuts, mix all together with the fried bacon and the filling for the cannelloni is ready. Stuff them now with your bare hands, it can be done with a tea spoon if you are willing to run the risk to break the pasta tube.
Whisk an egg for the wrapping and put a pinch of salt in it. Crumble the almonds with few blows of a grinder and lay it on a flat surface. Dip the cannelloni in the bitten egg and wrap them up with the ground almonds. Bake at 180° C (356° F) the cannelloni until they are crispy and crusty.
Serving
Pour two ladles of velvet sauce in a soup plate and lay a single cannellone right in the middle. I personally prefer to go on with the sauce and leave the crusty pasta untouched. Since you need the help of a knife and a fork, it is more orderly to eat it at the end, mopping up the sauce with a piece of pasta. Another possibility might be: do it your way!
Grandmother”s tip
To dip the cannellone in the beaten egg use your hands. Roll the canellone with your finger tips back and forth in the ground almonds. Handle covered canellone gently, otherwise wrapping will detach unpleasantly, leaving an empty spot.
My own way
This recipe gives you the chance to serve a fascinating and delicious dish without frying any oil. Effectively I add the olive oil before blending the sauce. It will be healthy and tasty.
Cannelloni are typical Italian food. The English term is often used in singular (cannellone), in particular when used as the name of the dish. In countries other than Italy, cannelloni are often referred to as “manicotti” o “maniche” (sleeves). Cannelloni are a cylindrical type of pasta generally served baked with a filling and covered by a sauce. Some types of cannelloni need to be boiled beforehand, while for others, it is enough to use a more dilute sauce or filling.
