Cannelloni bolognese on a bed of spinach
Italiaanse gerechten zijn en blijven mijn basis. De laatste jaren heb ik mijn kennis en gerechten zeker uitgebreid naar curry's, Aziatisch eten en heel veel meer experimenten, maar Italiaans blijft mijn eerste liefde en basis. Maar ook binnen de Italiaanse keuken blijf ik nieuwe dingen proberen. Ik heb een keer in een restaurant een lekker cannelloni gerecht gegeten en dat wilde ik thuis ook wel een keer proberen.
Luckily I have a huge amount of recipes to search through, and I found this recipe out of a cooking magazine from years ago. This recipe requires quite some time to first properly cook the sauce, after that fill the cannelloni and lastly actually baking in the oven, but as always time also gives flavour. The time gives in this dish a beautifully balanced bolognese filling and the perfect pasta bake. The bed of spinach add some extra vegetables, freshness and colour to the plate.
- 2 onions
- 1 teentje garlic
- 1 carrot
- 10 takje thyme
- 2 el olive oil
- 300 g ground beef and pork (50 - 50)
- salt and pepper
- sugar
- 2 el tomato paste
- 400 ml tomatoes (tin)
- 100 ml red wine
- 2 el butter (plus a little extra)
- 2 el flour
- 250 ml milk
- 0,5 vegetable stock cube
- 600 g baby spinach leaves
- nutmeg
- 50 g Parmesan cheese (piece)
- 125 g mozzarella
- 1 tomato
- 18-20 cannelloni
Peal and dice the onions and garlic. Clean the carrot and cut finely. Rinse the thyme and shake until dry. Separate 2 twigs for garnish. Strip the leaves from the remaining twigs.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a big frying pan. Bake the ground meat loose in approx. 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the carrot, garlic and half of the onion and bake for 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and bake along shortly. Add the tinned tomatoes with the juices and press them in to chunks. Stir in the wine and the thyme. Bring the sauce to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Melt for the bechamel the butter in a saucepan. Once melted add the flour and shortly bake. Stir well and add 250 ml water and the milk. Add the stock cube, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Clean the spinach, rinse it and let it dry. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the leftover onion, fry until translucent. Add the spinach and let it shrink with a lid on the pan. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Grate the Parmesan cheese. Cut the mozzarella in small chunks. Rinse the tomato and cut into slices. Divide 2 tablespoons of bechamel over the bottom of a greased oven dish. Spread the spinach in the dish.
Preheat the oven to 200⁰C. Season the meat sauce with salt, pepper and a little bit of sugar and fill the cannelloni with the sauce. Place the cannelloni on top of the spinach. Pour over the remaining bechamel sauce. Divide the tomato on top and sprinkle over the cheese. Bake the dish for 40 minutes in the oven. Garnish with the leftover thyme.
Source and inspiration: koken&genieten, april 2014