Finished Cannelloni, whole & cut
(click to enlarge)

Cannelloni Piedmont


Italy - Piedmont   -   Cannelloni Ripieni

Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  
5 main
****
5 hrs
Most
In Italy, Cannelloni is often made from fresh pasta, not by stuffing an open pipe, but in the manner of a jelly roll. This recipe from Piedmont is one of few stuffed pasta recipes not from Emilia.




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8
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1
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1/8
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2-1/4
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2
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1
1
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oz
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T
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-- Filling
Beef (1)  
Italian Sausage
Olive Oil
Onion
Rosemary sprig
Wine, dry (2)
Tomato Paste
Water
Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Chili Powder
Egg
-- Pasta
Flour
Eggs
-- Sauce
Butter
Bechamel Sauce (3)
Parmesan Cheese
Butter
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Click on the photo for more photos of the dish being made - and read Note-4.

Prep   (First Day)   (3 hrs - all work)
  1. Chop BEEF quite fine. Skin SAUSAGE and chop quite fine. Mix. A mini-prep processor can be used, but do them separately and don't process into mush.
  2. Chop ONION very fine.
  3. Grate PARMESAN fine (both batches).
  4. Mix Tomato Paste with Water.
  5. In a spacious sauté pan heat Olive Oil over moderate heat and Fry Rosemary Sprig, stirring for about 3 minutes, then discard the sprig.
  6. Stir in Onion and Meat mix. Fry stirring until you are getting some browning.
  7. Stir in Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Wine and Tomato Paste mix. Cover tightly and simmer slowly for about 1 hour, stirring now and then and check liquid. Uncover and simmer until until there is no free liquid except oil. Set aside until needed.
  8. Meanwhile:   Make the Béchamel sauce (see Note-3) - about 25 minutes
  9. Make Pasta Dough. Roll out about 0.020 inch thick - I hope you have a pasta machine. For complete instructions See our Italian Fresh & Stuffed Pasta page.
  10. Cut the Pasta into rectangles about 4 inches by 5 inches. You should have a fair number of these left over unless you tear a lot of them in handling.
  11. Bring plenty of salted water to a boil, preferably in a wide fairly shallow pan (I use a large sauté pan). Set a bowl of cold water conveniently nearby.
  12. A few at a time (3 to 5 depending on your pan) put the pasta rectangles in the boiling water and boil them for 3 minutes. Fish them out carefully and drop them in the cold water to chill. They will be very slippery, so you will need something to lift them and something like a wooden spoon to keep them from sliding off. Drain them well and set them out on a cloth, or interleave in wax paper.
  13. If you are making the pasta a day ahead, definitely interleave with wax paper, wrap the bundle in plastic and refrigerate. Put the bundle where nothing will be set on top of it or you will have a mess.
  14. Mix grated Parmesan into the Stuffing. Because it should be quite smooth for spreading, I usually run the stuffing through the mini-prep at this stage, particularly if I've chopped the meats by hand.
Run   (Second Day)   -   (2 hrs - 1 hr work)
  1. Massage Stuffing with the Egg.
  2. Butter a shallow baking dish. One 9-1/2 x 13 inches is good. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
  3. Take a Pasta rectangle and spread 2 T of the stuffing on it, leaving a 1/2 inch margin all around. Roll it up fairly tightly in the direction so the length of the roll will be the short side of the square. Set the roll in the baking dish seam side down. Repeat until you run out of meat, pasta or room in the baking dish. You can pack the rolls fairly tightly, but they should be in a single layer.
  4. Carefully reheat the Béchamel Sauce if it is cold. It doesn't have to come up to a full simmer but should be quite warm.
  5. Dot the top of the Canellonis with 2 T Butter. Pour the Béchamel Sauce over them and spread evenly. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Dot the top again with 1 T Butter.
  6. Place in the oven and bake until top is very lightly browned - 25 to 40 minutes, depending. then turn the oven off and let sit in there for 10 minutes more to settle.
NOTES:
  1. Beef:

      Weight is for boneless with all fat removed. Shoulder is a good cut for this, flavorful but not too tough.
  2. Wine:

      Either Red or White can be used.
  3. Béchamel Sauce:

      This is easy to make by our recipe Besciamella Sauce (the Italian name - they invented it, not the French).
  4. Method:

      Be aware, this dish is a bit of a project, so don't start it if you don't want a project. It is best to make the Béchamel, Stuffing (except the egg) and Pasta all the day before and refrigerate. This is good not only for your energy level and sanity, but also makes it possible to time when the dish will be done. See Photo Page for step photos.
  5. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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