Cannelloni

[riboflavinjoe]

Hey, I have a batch of braised beef I want to turn into Cannelloni (making them into ravioli is more work than I'm willing to put in this weekend). For cannelloni from fresh pasta:

Do I wrap the meat in the uncooked pasta square? How thick should the pasta be, ie to which notch on the pasta roller should I go?

Cooking it: I won't drown it in tomato sauce, how do I make it warm? I figure: wrap in aluminum foil, and throw in the oven.

Thanks, all.

[Jensen]

David Ross posted a meal not too long ago that sounds remarkably similar to what you want to do.

It's here on the Dinner thread.

[David Ross]

Hey, I have a batch of braised beef I want to turn into Cannelloni (making them into ravioli is more work than I'm willing to put in this weekend).  For cannelloni from fresh pasta:

Do I wrap the meat in the uncooked pasta square?  How thick should the pasta be, ie to which notch on the pasta roller should I go?

Cooking it: I won't drown it in tomato sauce, how do I make it warm?  I figure: wrap in aluminum foil, and throw in the oven.

Thanks, all.

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I have some ideas for you-and you can catch some photos of the cannelloni I did last week by clicking the link below over to the Dinner thread.

I myself also am doing a dish with braised beef tonight-in a lasagna style dish.

But for your cannelloni, I would suggest buying wonton wrappers from the cold case at your market. They work fine for cannelloni. If you do want to make fresh pasta I would not go all the way to the final notch on your pasta machine because that might make the pasta sheets too thin. I'd maybe go to the second to last notch.

Layer some Italian style tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Spoon the braised beef on the sheet of pasta/wonton wrapper and roll up. Place the rolled up cannelloni on top of the tomato sauce. Spoon some besciamella (white sauce), on top of the cannelloni. Dot the top with more tomato sauce, some grated parmesan and butter. Bake until bubbly, then broil for 5 minutes to crisp the top.

You can see my step by step photos on the Dinner thread. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I think you'd be pleased with the results.

[doctortim]

From David's photos, those pasta sheets look about a 7 on the Atlas Marcato pasta machine (which goes up to 9).

[slkinsey]

In Italy I was taught to make cannelloni by rolling out a super-thin long sheet of pasta, blanching/shocking it, laying it out on towels, smearing on a thin layer of meat sauce, drizzling on a little béchamel and rolling the whole thing up like a jelly roll. A little more sauce and béchamel over the top, and the works into the oven.

The kind of cannelloni that consists of, more or less, a tube of pasta (either fresh or dried) encasing a finger-sized filling of meat and/or cheese and/or spinach has always seemed more Italian-American to me than Italian, and is usually called manicotti (and, unfortunately, often pronounced "manigot").

Edited November 4, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[janeer]

Yes, I'm afraid it's not really canneloni without the bechamel...

[maggiethecat]

is usually called manicotti (and, unfortunately, often pronounced "manigot").

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I agree with your general procedure for cannelloni, and this is how it was always prepared by my Italian-American Nonna-in-law. Well worth the work.

Manicotti was a crepe-like dish, and never pronounced, unfortunately or not, as manigot. Nor would that side of the family have ever called anything pasta fazool (Unfortunately or not.)

[riboflavinjoe]

The Results:

I made one batch of Ravioli:

and one batch of "cannelloni" or whatever you want to call it, I don't care what you call it, as long as it tastes good, and it sure did!

Edit to add the right links to the cannelloni pix... and to add if you get the 2girls1cup reference clap your hands!

Edited November 5, 2007 by riboflavinjoe (log)

[prasantrin]

The Results:

I made one batch of Ravioli:

and one batch of "cannelloni" or whatever you want to call it, I don't care what you call it, as long as it tastes good, and it sure did!

Edit to add the right links to the cannelloni pix... and to add if you get the 2girls1cup reference clap your hands!

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I tired to look at the links, but I couldn't get them to work. I'm sure they looked great, though! Anything with bechamel sauce is good--that's my rule! (one of them, anyway)

[jmolinari]

In Italy I was taught to make cannelloni by rolling out a super-thin long sheet of pasta, blanching/shocking it, laying it out on towels, smearing on a thin layer of meat sauce, drizzling on a little béchamel and rolling the whole thing up like a jelly roll.  A little more sauce and béchamel over the top, and the works into the oven.

The kind of cannelloni that consists of, more or less, a tube of pasta (either fresh or dried) encasing a finger-sized filling of meat and/or cheese and/or spinach has always seemed more Italian-American to me than Italian, and is usually called manicotti (and, unfortunately, often pronounced "manigot").

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Disagree. In fact, in 18 years of living in Italy i never once saw a cannelloni that was like a pinwheel that you describe, but that may be because of where i'm from (north italy)

In Piemonte, where my cousin (who makes the best cannelloni EVER) has a rosticceria (a sort of mostly-made, take home food business), it is tubes of pasta stuffed with roasted veal, pork and beef and vegetables which has been ground with herbs/spices and parmiggiano, and then baked with tomato sauce and besciamella.

I guess my point is, in Piemonte at least, the traditional cannelloni ARE tube of pasta with filling.

jason

Edited November 5, 2007 by jmolinari (log)

[Jensen]

I tired to look at the links, but I couldn't get them to work.  I'm sure they looked great, though!  Anything with bechamel sauce is good--that's my rule!  (one of them, anyway)

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Here are the links:

ravioli

Cannelloni

I'm inspired by them to a) try to save some braised short ribs from tonight's dinner, and b) make cannelloni out of said leftovers.

They look great!

[Dianabanana]

usually called manicotti (and, unfortunately, often pronounced "manigot").

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There isn't anything unfortunate about this--it's dialect. My grandparents, who came to this country from Puglia when they were well into their 30s, said "manigot." They also pronounced ricotta "rigot"; mozzarella "moozadell"; melanzana "melanzan"; prosciutto "prozhoot," and so forth.