Beef Cannelloni Recipe with White Sauce
Homemade cannelloni filled with rich beef sauce and topped with white sauce is the ultimate indulgence when it comes to Italian comfort food. They are easy to prepare and a definite crowd pleaser.
Servings: 14 Cannelloni
Calories: 368kcal
Ingredients
- 14 Fresh Pasta Sheets
- 180 g Grated Mozzarella Cheese
- 60 g Parmesan Cheese
Filling Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion finely chopped
- 1 Medium Carrot peeled and finely chopped
- 1 Celery Stick finely chopped
- 500 g Ground Beef
- 500 g Tomato Passata
- 350 ml Vegetable Broth
- Salt and Pepper to taste
White Sauce Ingredients
- 75 g Unsalted Butter
- 750 ml Whole Milk
- 75 g All purpose Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- Salt to Taste
Instructions
Prepare The Bolognese Sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan or large skillet over low to medium heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté until they soften and the onions turn golden. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and browning it on all sides.
- Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Optional: Add a little red wine and cook until the liquid evaporates (about 10 minutes).
- Reduce heat and stir in the tomato sauce and vegetable broth.
- Bring the Bolognese to a light simmer, then cover the saucepan with a lid and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Let it simmer for one to two hours, stirring occasionally (every 20-30 minutes).
- After simmering for two hours, remove the lid from the pan, and allow the extra moisture to evaporate on a low heat. This will take approximately 20-30 minutes. Your slow-cooked bolognese is ready, and the meat will be flavorful, moist, and tender.
- Allow the pasta sauce to completely cool down, then set aside in the fridge.
Prepare The Béchamel Sauce [White Sauce]
- Warm up the milk on the stove or the microwave, without bringing it to a boil. It took me 2 minutes in the microwave.
- On a low flame, melt the unsalted butter.
- As soon as it is melted, start adding the all purpose flour a little at a time, mixing well, using a whisk.
- Once you have added all the flour, keep on mixing until you achieve a homogenous roux.
- Next, start adding the warm milk a little at a time.
- Every time you add a little, mix well.
- Once all the milk has been added, mix well to ensure no flour knots are present. Simply heat the sauce through, there is no need to boil it.
- Finally, season with a little nutmeg and salt.
- Stir well once more, and set aside.
Prepare The Beef Cannelloni
- Preheat oven to 400* F, FAN 180*C, or Gas Mark 6. Some pasta sheets will have baking instructions on the package, too.
- Spread some Bechamel sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. This will stop the cannelloni from sticking to it.
- Parboil the fresh pasta sheets as per the packet instructions. The ones I purchase say to boil them for 3 minutes, but as they sometimes break, I instead pour boiling water on top of them in a large bowl and allow them to sit for 4 minutes.
- Cut the each sheet in two equal parts. These sheets are usually sold for lasagna, so are quite large.
- In the center of each piece of pasta sheet, from one side to the other lengthwise, spread a little Bolognese sauce and grated mozzarella cheese.
- Lay your filled cannelloni in the baking dish, and continue doing the same until you use up all of the pasta. I prepared 14 cannelloni in total - two dishes with seven each with these quantities.
- Cover the cannelloni with the remaining white sauce, then spread a little more mozzarella [if desired] and grated Parmesan on top.
- Optional: Add a couple of spoons of butter on top of the cannelloni before baking.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and the top golden brown.
- Once ready, allow the baked cannelloni to rest for 10 minutes, before plating.
- Serve with a side dish of salad or steamed vegetables, and a nice slice of toasted bread with garlic butter.
Notes
Substitutions
- Cannelloni Tubes: You can purchase these tubes in most large grocery stores, in the pasta aisle. They usually don't require parboiling, so they can be filled and baked immediately.
- Milk: You can use two percent milk [semi-skimmed] instead of whole for the white sauce. I do most of the time, and it works just fine!
- Bolognese Sauce: This is the most important tip! If you can, prepare the sauce in advance, allow it to simmer long enough that it becomes quite thick, and finally, store it in the refrigerator overnight. The sauce will be very easy to handle the following day, so you will be able to stuff the cannelloni sheets [or fill cannelloni tubes] without the sauce running all over the place!
- Seasoning: Make sure your cannelloni filling is properly seasoned! Once the cannelloni are put together and baked, it is not the same to sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. The best is to have every ingredient seasoned just right.
- Whisk: When preparing the bechamel sauce, whisking rather than mixing using a wooden or metal spoon, will really help achieve a cremier result, without lumps.
- Aluminum: If the top of your pasta bake is starting to become too dark, while the pasta is still raw, simply cover it with some aluminum foil to stop it from burning.
- In the fridge: Allow the cannelloni bake to cool down completely, then store in the fridge for up to three days in an airtight container or covered well with cling film.
- In the freezer [baked]: Allow the cannelloni dish to cool down completely, then either store it in portions or as a single dish by covering it with one layer of cling film and one of aluminum foil.
- In the freezer [raw]: Cover with a layer of cling film and one of aluminum foil. Before baking, allow the cannelloni to thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake as per the instructions.
- Reheating: You can either warm up the whole dish in the oven, covered with some aluminum foil, or in the microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 318mg | Potassium: 477mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1328IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 206mg | Iron: 3mg