Canelones de Bacalao y Samfaina

Canelones are a traditional dish in Catalunya, imported from Italian canoli. They have myriad different fillings;  a combination of meats seems most common, but I wanted one with bacalao -- the dried salt cod that has an appealing texture and funky aroma when rehydrated.  Many recipes I found had a loose chunky filling that looked floppy and unappealing, others ground the fish into a paste resembling cat food: I wanted texture and structure so the rolls were firm and well-defined. I found this recipe which used a traditional Catalan sauce "Samfaina" that's somewhat like French ratatouille, but more cooked down. It proved to be an excellent vehicle to hold the fish, and provided an attractive bright contrast to the Béchamel sauce and gratin of Manchego cheese.

Three pieces per person is a bit much, it's rich

We used what we had on hand, with hydrated bacalao and dried scallops for the fish, and made some substitutions for a couple of the ingredients in the samfaina, but it shows we don't need to be pedantic to make a great dish.  We also made our own pasta instead of using the pre-made dry pasta sheets they have in Catalunya. This was too much food for the two of us, and could have fed three as it was quite rich.  

Pasta:

  1       Egg

100 g     All Purpose Flour

Fish:

135 g     Rehydrated Bacalao

 25 g     Rehydrated dried Scallops (save the hydration water)

          Olive Oil

          Flour

Samfaina:

          Olive Oil

1 medium  Onion, chopped fine

3 cloves  Garlic, sliced thin

1 C       Tomato, chopped coarse

1 C       Green Pepper, chopped

2 large   Roasted Red Pepper (from a jar)

1 C       Squash flesh

Béchamel:

1 Tbs     Butter

1 1/2 Tbs Flour

1 C       Fish stock and/or fish rehydrating water

1 C       Milk

          Nutmeg

          Manchego Cheese, grated

Whiz the egg in a food processor, add flour and pulse until it combines, first into a coarse sandy texture then into a ball; form by hand if it doesn't come together. Wrap in plastic and let hydrate overnight in the fridge.

Rehydrate the Bacalao, changing the water a couple times to reduce salt; also rehydrate the dried Scallops overnight. The water from the dried Scallops is quite flavorful, and you can save if for the sauce.

Heat the Oil and cook the Onions about 10 minutes until softened; add the Garlic, cook a bit more. Add the other Samfaina ingredients and cook low for at least an hour, but two is better. If it's getting too dry, cover the pot. We want a thick-ish consistency that will bind our fish.

Cut the Pasta dough into two pieces, and roll out each with a pasta maker, reducing down to its finest setting -- #9 on our Marcato Atlas model. Lay it on a dish towel and roll out the other one. You should end up with each sheet being about 20 inches long, by the 6-inch width of the machine. Cut each sheet into 3 pieces.  Cook in boiling salted water until done, but it still retains a little "bite". Let cool and dry on a kitchen towel. The pasta sheets will have expanded significantly, but the width should fit in a lasagna pan. 

 

For the Béchamel, melt Butter in a pan, add the Flour and cook until lightly colored. Add the fish stock or hydrating water, and cook down; it should thicken and reduce. Add the Milk, and cook until it thickens. Grate in a bit of Nutmeg, season with Salt.  Add a bit of the Bechamel to a lasagna pan to prevent the pasta from sticking, or use a bit of oil.

Roughly chop the Bacalao and Scallops, and saute in Olive Oil a few minutes until just cooked. Sprinkle with a bit of Flour and cook out the raw flavor. 

Add the Samfaina, stir to combine, and cook a together a little longer. If Oil starts separating, dust with a bit of Flour and cook a bit to bind it all together. Taste and adjust Salt.

Bacalao and scallops combined with Samfaina

Roughly divide the filling in the pan into six sections, then lay a snake of filling on each pasta sheet, across the 6-inch dimension. Roll each up and put, seam-side down, in the lasagna pan. I separate them a bit (groups of 3) so I will be able to use a spatula and pull out a serving at a time.

Cover (but don't smother) with Bechamel, then top with grated Manchego. 

Broil until the sauce starts bubbling and the cheese browns attractively. Carefully pull out the Canelones and plate; two pieces this size should be enough for each person.