Cannelloni with Ground Beef Filling

While watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, our taste buds were aroused by the Cannoli of Marie (the mom of Raymond). Funny thing we thought Marie said the dish was Cannelloni. To satisfy our hunger, we decided to give it a go – Cannelloni for our family dinner. A totally new recipe for me.

As described by Wikipedia, Cannelloni are rectangular are rectangular pasta sheets that are rolled into a cylindrical shape encompassing a filling
I looked at my cookbooks but unfortunately, I didn't find any Cannelloni recipe. So, I looked for different filling recipes for fresh pasta. Walaah! I found the recipe that I believed suited my needs from How to Cook Everything of Matt Bittman. I modified it according to my palette and available ingredients. Here’s my own take:

Cannelloni Meat Filling

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 minced medium onions

½ kilo Ground lean beef (sirloin)

1 cup red wine (I used my left over wine from Christmas)

Salt and ground pepper to taste

5 cloves of roasted garlic*

¼ cup minced parsley (better if you use flat leaf parsley)

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably freshly grated)

1 egg

¼ cup bread crumbs (preferably homemade)

Pasta Sauce

2 cups Italian Spaghetti sauce

2 cups béchamel sauce

Instructions:

Pour the olive oil in a medium, deep skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until it is translucent (around 2 minutes). Add the ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up any lumps.

Add the wine with salt and pepper then turn the heat to very low. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened.

Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Cool thoroughly, and then stir in the parsley, parmesan, egg, and bread crumbs.

Fill the Cannelloni pasta immediately and arrange it on a single file on a baking dish.

Pour the Italian Spaghetti sauce then béchamel sauce. Cover the baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes at 375F (please follow the cooking instructions at the back of the Cannelloni package).

* I decided to use 5 cloves of roasted garlic because I love the sweetness and unique taste of garlic once it’s roasted. (I learned this from Martha Stewart, one of the people I admire).

The package of the Cannelloni recommended baking the dish for 20 minutes, however, after trying one pasta tube I found it a little hard so I cooked it again for another 7 minutes.

At first, I thought I overcooked my beloved Cannelloni. As dinner started, I looked at each one on the table as they passed around my Cannelloni. I felt like I didn't blink an eye until Tomas, my brother-in-law, gave his verdict, "umm, yummy".  And everyone gave their yummy-proval. Yeheey!

For tonight, I think I made it. Goodnight for now!

Cook, eat, celebrate, and love!!!