JAS_OH1
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I love Italian-inspired food, especially when there is garlic involved! I have always enjoyed ordering baked canneloni in Italian restaurants, but never tried making it at home before. I decided to use fresh pasta with Italian sausage and ground beef filling, along with provolone, mozzarella, and shredded parmesan cheese, then drizzled pesto, marinara, and bechemel sauces over the top before baking. I added fresh herbs before serving and it took the dish up another notch. This was really delicious and is something I will make again. Enjoy!
Notes
I chose to only roll and bake 5 canneloni for this meal (using about half of the meat mixture)--there is enough mixture for 10 or more canneloni. I would advise against trying to make all of the sauces and the canneloni on the same day as it's very time consuming. I made my own fresh pasta, from scratch marinara, and the bechemel (I had frozen pesto cubes in my freezer from last summer's basil harvest). If I had it to do over again, I would have made the marinara and beschemel sauces and the meat filling the day before and then made the fresh pasta and assembled the dish the following day. That being said, there are perfectly delicious high-end sauces that can be purchased for those who are short on time or are unable to get the necessary ingredients to make them. Aldi has a decent jarred pesto I have used before and Rao's is a delicious (though a bit pricey) marinara sauce. Beschemel is fairly low effort and worth making from scratch, IMO. Some canneloni recipes call for only 1 of the 3 sauces, so that's fine as well. Use what suits you. And there is nothing wrong with using purchased fresh pasta sheets or buying dried canneloni tubes either, I just like to make my own. Additionally, my recipes are very garlic forward, so if you don't love garlic or it doesn't love you, scale it (or any other ingredients) down to suit your personal tastes.
**Make the sauces in advance of filling/rolling the canneloni (or use premade purchased sauces)
Ingredients for the beschemel sauce (drizzled over the top before baking): or use your own preferred recipe
2 cups milk (I used whole milk)
3 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
Beschemel preparation
Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the flour and whisk continuously. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking to keep the sauce smooth. Cook until it reaches a thickened, but pourable, consistency. It will thicken further while baking in the oven. Cover and set aside (or refrigerate until ready to use).
Marinara sauce (my own recipe) Recipe - Garlic Lover's Marinara Sauce
Basil pesto (there are lots of recipes online and this is about as good as any) Make Amazing Homemade Basil Pesto in Under 15 Minutes
Ingredients for the meat filling
3 TBSP olive oil
1/2 pound Italian sausage (bulk, no casings)
1/2 pound ground beef (80/20 ratio or better)
4 cloves of semi-roasted garlic, diced
1 small white onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup good red dry wine
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup of plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded provolone cheese
chopped fresh parsley, basil, and oregano to add before rolling
Instructions for meat filling preparation
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the onion and garlic on low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the raw meat, breaking it up with a spoon or crumbling with your hands as you add it. When the meat is browned, add the salt, wine, bay leaf, and dried herbs. Simmer uncovered on medium heat until the wine has reduced (about 10 minutes). Add the milk and reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook the mixture covered for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook until the mixture has very little moisture left in the pan.
Transfer the meat mixture to a large bowl and remove the bay leaf. Add the bread crumbs, cheeses, and fresh herbs. Cover and set aside, or refrigerate until ready to use.
Fresh pasta recipe (I like this one but any will do, especially if you don't have sourdough starter on hand) or purchase pasta sheets/ canneloni tubes
Sourdough Pasta
NOTE about the fresh pasta recipe above: I use 1/2 semolina and 1/2 AP flour. Also, weigh your eggs. Lately eggs seem to be smaller and 2 large eggs will not equal 150 gms, it's closer to 3 eggs, which is what I have been using lately.
Instructions for pasta
Cut your freshly made pasta sheets into rectangles. Cook quickly in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, then place the sheets on a large flat tray--follow package instructions for purchased pasta sheets/canneloni tubes.
Assembling canneloni
Spoon about 1/4 cup of the beschemel sauce in the bottom of an appropriately sized baking pan. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce on top of that. Place one of the pasta sheets on a flat surface and spoon the desired amount of the meat and cheese mixture. Roll and place in the baking pan, seam side down. Repeat until the pan is full.
Spoon the beschemel across the entire top of the rolled canneloni, spreading it out until covered, then drizzle the marinara and pesto in a vertical pattern. Sprinkle with the desired amount of shredded parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350F for approximately 45 minutes. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before plating. Add fresh herbs if desired.
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