Cannelloni

By Howie

Ingredients

• Pasta:
• pasta dough
• 6-8 quarts water
• 1 tb salt
• Filling:
• 1 tb olive oil
• 1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
• 1 (10oz) package frozen spinach, defrosted, squeezed, completely dry, then chopped finely OR 3/4 lb fresh spinach, cooked, drained, squeezed and finely chopped
• 2 tb butter
• 1 lb beef round steak, ground twice, or 1 cup finely chopped leftover beef
• 2 chicken livers
• 5 tb imported parmesan, freshly grated
• 2 tb heavy cream
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
• salt & fresh ground black pepper

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

1) Pasta: On floured board or cloth, roll out pasta dough until paper thin, then cut into about 36 rectangles (2 x 3 inches). Bring water and salt to boil over high heat. Drop in pieces of pasta and stir gently with wooden fork or spoon so they don't stick together. Return water to boil and cook pasta over high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until pasta is tender but not soft. Drain, cool slightly, then spread pasta pieces side by side on paper towels to dry.

2) Filling: Heat olive oil in 8-10 inch enameled or stainless steel skillet. Add the onions and garlic, and cook over moderate heat for 7-8 minutes, until they are soft but not brown. Stir in the spinach and cook, stirring 3-4 minutes. When all moisture has boiled away and spinach sticks slightly to pan, transfer to large bowl. Melt 1 tb butter in same skillet and lightly brown the beef, stirring constantly to break up any lumps. Add it to the onion-spinach mixture. Melt 1 tb butter in the skillet and cook livers, turning often, for 3-4 minutes, until somewhat firm, lightly browned, but still pink inside. Chop them coarsely, and add to the mixture in bowl along with parmesan, cream, eggs and oregano. Mix the ingredients gently but thoroughly. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

3) Besciamella for cannelloni: In a heavy 2-3 quart saucepan, melt butter over moderate heat. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Pour in cream and milk all at once, whisking constantly until flour is partially dissolved. Then return pan to high heat and cook, stirring constantly with whisk. When sauce comes to boil and is smooth, reduce heat. Simmer, still stirring, 2-3 minutes longer, or until sauce is thick enough to coat wires of whisk heavily. Remove sauce from heat and season with salt and white pepper.

4) Assembling the cannelloni: Preheat oven to 375. Place a tb or so of the filling on bottom third of each pasta rectangle and roll them up. Pour just a thin film of the tomato sauce into two 10 x 14 inch shallow baking and serving dishes. Lay the cannelloni side by side in one layer on the tomato sauce. Pour the besciamella over it and spoon the rest of the tomato sauce on top. Scatter in 4 tb of grated cheese and dot with 2 tb butter. Bake the cannelloni uncovered in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the sauce bubbling. Slide the baking dishes under a hot broiler for 30 seconds to brown on top. Serve the cannelloni from the baking dish.

5) Note: The pasta can be cooked, spread between 2 layers of wax peper, and refrigerated for a day or two. The cannelloni, filled and combined with its sauce, also can be refrigerated (tightly wrapped in plastic or tin foil) up to 2 days.