Canelones/Canalóns are well-loved in Catalunya; this blog post has a good history. The "Rossini" version is a bit fancy, adding pâté per the composer's reputation as a "militant connoisseur". This recipe comes from a Canal Sur video.
We've made Canelones before with homemade pasta. Here in Barcelona, every store carries "placas" of Canelones: sheets of dried pasta that are uncooked or precooked; the latter saves the boiling time and reduces the risk of breaking the sheets. The original recipe used "carne" (beef) but beef/pork mixes are common, as are ground pork, chicken, and turkey -- you can use whichever you like. Rossini may have used Foie Gras, but Pâté has a better texture for this and is much more affordable. You can tweak the vegetables in the filling, but I think Onions should definitely be included. Other recipes don't use the veggies, add ham, while some mush up the meats and add cream, but we find the texture of the ground meat more pleasant. Tomate Frito is a cooked tomato sauce, thicker than uncooked puree.
The precooked sheets ("Facil") are a little more expensive and a bit larger than the uncooked sheets. Our box had 18 sheets and we hydrated them all, but a few stuck so we ended up with 12 good ones. It's not nearly so common to find the pasta tubes I'm used to seeing in The States.
This makes 4 servings, and they reheat gracefully in the microwave.
12 sheets Canelone pasta (precooked)
Olive Oil
1 Onion, fine dice
3 cloves Garlic, finely sliced
1 Carrot, grated
1 small Green/Red Pepper (mild), finely diced
300 g Ground Beef/Pork mix
60 ml Tomate Frito [4 Tbs]
160 g Pâté
50 g Flour
50 g Olive Oil
500 ml Milk
Nutmeg
30 ml Tomate Frito [2 Tbs]
Cheese (e.g., Parmesan, Manchego), grated or sliced
Hydrate pasta sheets in hot water, keeping the sheets separate so they don't stick together.
Sauté the Onions, Garlic, Carrot, Pepper.
Add the Meat and sauté until cooked.
Add 60 ml Tomate Frito and combine.
Turn off heat and add Pâté, then mix to meld the ingredients.
Add Salt and Pepper to taste.
 |
| Adding pâté to veg and meat |
Put the Pasta sheets on a towel and gently dry them.
Add a bit of Oil and 30 ml Tomato Frito to a baking dish (we used two Pyrex loaf pans) and spread; this keeps the pasta from sticking to the dish.
Lay out a few Pasta Sheets and add about a finger-sized line of filling.
Roll them up, overlapping the seam a little, and place seam side down in a baking dish.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Cook the Flour in the Oil until the Flour's cooked.
Add the Milk and stir to make a Bechamel with a texture of light cream.
Grate in the Nutmeg.
Add 2 Tbs Tomato Sauce.
If it's a bit thick, add Milk; if too thin, boil to reduce.
Top the Canelones with the Bechamel, then add grated/sliced Cheese.
Bake 20 minutes until the Cheese is golden and the filling is heated through.
Let sit a few minutes to set up, then serve.
No comments:
Post a Comment