Cannelloni from Amalfi

• 20 minutes to prepare • 60 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

Auguri Piero

Campania cuisine is an inexhaustible source of recipes, rich of charm and flavors.

Cannelloni from Amalfi are a very rich and tasty first course, perfect for holidays and Sunday family lunch. They are made with crepes stuffed with minced meat, mozzarella and bechamel.

The delicious crust that covers them helps to make the consistency of this unique and irresistible dish.

Baked cannelloni are a great classic of Italian cuisine that is prepared on special occasions. In this recipe, the cannelloni are filled with minced meat, mozzarella and bechamel, seasoned with a simple tomato sauce. The egg pastry is replaced by soft crepes, which must not be too thin to prevent them from falling apart in the oven (home-made pasta sheets for lasagna can also be used as an alternative, and can be found in supermarkets).

The result is an exquisite and irresistible combination of flavors and textures.

Here's what you will need for the 4-serving recipe:

 

For 5 crepes:
160 g flour 00
2 eggs, lightly beaten
500 ml milk

For the filling:
150 g minced meat
150 g mozzarella cheese

50 g Parmesan cheese

200 g passata di pomodoro (prepared like here)

100 ml white dry wine

1 carrot

1 onion

EVO oil

 
For the bechamel sauce:
200 ml milk
20 g butter
20 g flour 00
30 g grated Parmesan cheese
salt

1. Make the crepes: place the eggs in a mixing bowl, and add the flour
2. Add half of the milk and whisk until your mixture is lump free. Keep adding milk slowly until all the lumps have disappeared, then add remainder of milk, and mix through
3. Leave to stand for 30 minutes, then strain the mix through a sieve to make them completely lump free
4. Heat a 20-cm non stick crepe pan over medium-high heat and wipe it lightly with butter. Using a ladle, pour 1/2 of a ladle full into the top edge of the pan, and quickly tilt your pan around so the batter covers the entire pan. Keep swirling it around until the mixture stops running
5. Cook for 1 minute. When the sides of the crepe will start to color and will lift away from the side of the pan, slide a long plastic icing spatula under the center of crepe, and flip the crepe. Cook for a further 30 seconds, until lightly colored
6. Repeat with butter and remaining batter. Then, keep crepes aside to cool down
7. Put a pan over a medium heat, pour 4 tablespoons of EVO oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot. Add the chopped carrot and onion and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft
8. At this point, turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. Keep stirring for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew
9. Pour the wine into the pan with the mince mixture. Add a good shake of salt and pepper and stir well. Bring the whole thing to the boil and put a lid on the pan. Then, turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes
10. Meanwhile, prepare bechamel sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour.
11. Whisk until smooth then slowly pour in the milk, a little at a time. Whisk continuously until the sauce is thick then turn down the heat, add the salt and allow to simmer, stirring, until the sauce is thick and cooked through (this takes around 5 minutes on a gentle heat). Once the sauce is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese
12. Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced
13. In a large bowl place minced meat with bechamel sauce and cubed mozzarella cheese. Mix well
14. Place one ladle of sugo di pomodoro sauce on the bottom of a a large baking dish
15. Lay each crepe flat on a plate, spread with some minced meat and bechamel mixture. Roll into a tight wrap and place them next to each other in a baking dish. Repeat with 4 more crepes
16. Spread the remaining sugo di pomodoro sauce over the crepes. Sprinkle over some more Parmesan cheese
17. Bake for 20 minutes, 15 minutes sealed with aluminum foil, and the last 5 minutes without it
18. Let it cool down for 5 minutes and bring it to your gluttonous table!

In the following, Nutrition Facts of this dish are indicated. Data is provided per serving.